Concussions are one of the most dangerous aspects of organized sports at any level. Concussions can cause life altering brain injuries and can lead to problems like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the condition that’s believed to have led to NFL veteran Junior Seau’s 2012 suicide.

The effects of concussions on the brain can last for years if not decades if they go undetected. Professional sports teams have doctors and equipment at their finger tips, in their training rooms and on the sidelines.

For young athletes repercussions can be much more grave because head injuries can be harder to detect. Young determined athletes may not realize they’re injured, or when they do it may be too late. That was the case with Ben Harvatine one of the co-founders of the Jolt Sensor.

Harvatine was a wrestler and was training when he hit his head. Like normal he brushed it off but as he continued to work out he became more and more dizzy and finally sought help from a school trainer. However as he says on their Kickstarter page, in some ways it was a little too late.

Standing on the sidelines your parents and friends can see when you get hit really hard, but actually playing in a game you may not realize it. Your adrenaline is pumping and that huge hit may not have seemed as big.

That’s why a concussion detection system is essential for the safety of our children playing sports. Jolt is that system.

The Jolt system is made up of a small sensor and a clip that clips into the foam padding of a helmet. It can be used for football, ice hockey, lacrosse and many other sports. When the sensor detects an impact that could cause a concussion or other serious head injury it vibrates to let the athlete know they may have suffered an injury. More importantly it notifies that athletes parents, loved ones and coaching staff.

Coaches can then take immediate action sidelining that athlete for their own safety. Jolt takes it a step further though by offering an app that has cognitive testing that will give a quick glimpse into the athletes brain function. Of course they should be seen by a doctor immediately. All the data from the athletes interaction with the app and from the impact itself is saved in the cloud for later use by the athlete’s doctor.

Jolt has taken to Kickstarter to launch their product. You can find out more here.