SI for Kids: "Riddell Introduces InSite Impact Response System"

One of the biggest topics in football today is head injuries.

Solutions have ranged from stiffer penalties for head hits in the pro game to teaching safer tackling at the youth level.

Solutions have ranged from stiffer penalties for head hits in the pro game to teaching safer tackling at the youth level.

Athletic equipment companies have worked to develop sensors and alert systems to track especially heavy hits and warn of possible head trauma.

Athletic equipment companies have worked to develop sensors and alert systems to track especially heavy hits and warn of possible head trauma.

And in New York last month, the helmet manufacturer Riddell launched the latest entry in this growing field, the InSite Impact Response System.

And in New York last month, the helmet manufacturer Riddell launched the latest entry in this growing field, the InSite Impact Response System.

“We need to clean up and change the game, improve it,” former Steelers quarterback and current ESPN analyst Merril Hoge said at the Riddell launch event, In the Film Room.

The InSite is a product designed to help coaches and players from ages eight to 21 identify when a player has taken a potentially dangerous hit to the head.

It was developed off of Riddell’s Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS) and Sideline Response System (SRS), which have been monitoring and analyzing head impacts at the college level since 2003.

It was developed off of Riddell’s Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS) and Sideline Response System (SRS), which have been monitoring and analyzing head impacts at the college level since 2003.

There are two pieces to the InSite technology: A paper-thin membrane with five sensor points inserted into Riddell’s Speed helmet, and a hand-held monitoring unit used by coaches and trainers on the sideline.

There are two pieces to the InSite technology: A paper-thin membrane with five sensor points inserted into Riddell’s Speed helmet, and a hand-held monitoring unit used by coaches and trainers on the sideline.

When a player wearing the InSite takes a hit to the head, data is collected based on where on the helmet the hit happened and the force of the hit.

If the sensors detect a potentially dangerous hit has occurred, an alert is sent to the sideline monitor that includes information on the hit and what player sustained it.

If the sensors detect a potentially dangerous hit has occurred, an alert is sent to the sideline monitor that includes information on the hit and what player sustained it.

Whoever is holding the monitor will take that player out of the game, assess the severity of the hit, and decide whether further concussion testing should be done.

Whoever is holding the monitor will take that player out of the game, assess the severity of the hit, and decide whether further concussion testing should be done.

Whoever is holding the monitor will take that player out of the game, assess the severity of the hit, and decide whether further concussion testing should be done.

“This is not a diagnostic tool,” Thad Ide, Riddell’s Senior Vice President Research & Product Development, stated.

“It’s another tool to help gauge what’s going on on the field.”

Ultimately, the InSite system is only a success on the field when everyone — coaches, trainers, players, and parents — works together off of it.

This was something Westlake (California) High School Head Athletic Trainer Scott Blatt learned firsthand when his school became an InSite pilot program.

The school’s football coach purchased 20 InSite units, and Blatt sat down with parents to explain the technology and see who would be interested in it.

Some parents were eager to learn more about how it could keep their kids safe.

Others, Blatt remembered, were a little more skeptical — they didn’t want their kid to lose playing time.

Coaches were supportive of their use, and they never got in the way of Blatt taking a kid out of a game to assess a potential injury.

Coaches were supportive of their use, and they never got in the way of Blatt taking a kid out of a game to assess a potential injury.

During the season, the InSites detected multiple incidents of potentially dangerous head hits, and in one or two cases Blatt caught concussion symptoms much earlier than he would have without the technology.

During the season, the InSites detected multiple incidents of potentially dangerous head hits, and in one or two cases Blatt caught concussion symptoms much earlier than he would have without the technology.