The University of Winnipeg

Heads Up Institute

The Heads Up Concussion Institute was established in June 2012 and is sponsored by the University of Winnipeg. It is housed within the Faculty of Kinesiology and the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Health. The purpose is to provide optimal prevention, education, monitoring, treatment and research of concussions.

Did you know...

• Injuries in children and youth aged 0-19 cost Canada's health care system $5.1 billion in direct and indirect costs annually.

• More than 40% of child and youth injuries treated in emergency departments are sport and recreation related:

• 31% of those in children aged five to nine years;

• 63% of those in the 10-14 year age group; and

• 57% of those in youth aged 15-19 years.

• 65.5% of the emergency room visits related to sports and recreation for the 0-19 year age group were males.

• Sports and recreational activities were the third leading cause of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) admissions in Canadian hospitals in 2003-2004.

• In the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions occur in sports and recreational activities annually. (Canadian Medical Association. 2011)

• Annual incidence of sports-related concussion in Canada is estimated at 300,000.

• The likelihood of an athlete in a contact sport experiencing a concussion may be as high as 19% per season