Questionnaire aims to help local medical researcher shape new guidelines for when and how to safely get kids back on the field or rink after a concussion
From his office window on the second floor of the MTS Iceplex, Jeff Leiter can look up from his research and watch kids play hockey on the rink below.
On a Friday afternoon in early April, the kids out there are young, their narrow legs pushing through drills as coaches carefully guide them along. At this age, they’re just having fun. But if they stick with it, their games will soon get a little rougher and the risk of injury gets a little bigger, and from his office window, Leiter has the regular reminder: These are the young athletes his research is aiming to protect.
Last month, Leiter, a doctor of human anatomy and cell science, and the research director at Pan Am Clinic, teamed up with Football Manitoba to send a survey on concussion symptoms to over 6,200 players and 1,000 coaches. They hope at least 40 per cent of those surveys come back, enough to give them an inside track on how many kids did or didn’t get concussions, and how the ones that did had their injury managed.