Promoting concussion awareness in youth hockey

No one could be happier with the concussion-awareness program than the parents, who each also single out Primeau for special praise. Dr. Bohatiuk said head safety is especially valuable in youth hockey, when "these kids are just figuring out how to time a hit, how to receive a hit and when to pull up." Fellow parent Tom Godfrey, who also has two sons who play, adds that the size differential in youth hockey leaves the shorter ones vulnerable to hits.

Godfrey said, "Because they're smaller, they're down lower."

"As they get to the older levels, the games become a little more aggressive," said Godfrey, who added that his son had his "bell rung" this year. "So you just have to keep an eye out for the symptoms, the headaches and the vomiting."

Dr. Bohatiuk agreed. "Being a chiropractor," he said, "I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep the head safe. The head runs the body."

Jean Brubaker added that parents needed to be educated. "It really becomes an issue when the kids start hitting, which they do the first year of peewee," said Brubaker, whose 12-year-old son, Alexander England, plays. "So parents need to be informed as to what to look for. Baseline testing gives you a chance to instantly evaluate the severity of an injury."

Cory O'Conner said he wished that boys under 11 would be eligible for testing. While hitting is not allowed at the squirt level, where his son Parker plays, O'Conner said his son "has been hit with a stick and an elbow.

"Kids run into each other," said O'Conner, of Washington Township. "The earlier [they start testing], the better. I wish they would start this all the way down to 7- and 8-year-olds. You have something to go by."

Primeau agreed.

"I wish it were even younger as well," he said. "The sooner we can establish baselines, the sooner it will give you a foundation that will have a value as you move forward."

Brubaker said of the program, "It makes us feel they are really looking after our kids."