BC Hockey is adopting a new app to help in diagnosing head injuries – helping trainers and coaches in assessing if a player has a concussion in real time.

HeadCheck, created by a group of UBC graduates, provides a multitude of the latest concussion tests and creates a history of a players condition.

The app stores information about the injury and its treatment and is designed to help improve the speed and accuracy of concussion testing.

“It’s an opportunity for us to monitor that player who has had an injury has received the appropriate OK to return to play,” said Barry Petrachenko, CEO of BC Hockey.

While Petrachenko says he hasn’t seen an increase in concussions he does see the app as a way of ensuring players' safety and making sure teams aren’t trying to fool the system.

“It really standardizes the protocol for return to play,” said Petrachenko. “That protocol has been affected in the past by the player, the parent, the coach who may not recognize the injury. Who may not be thinking just about the injury but may really want that player to return for various reasons. This helps us eliminate that type of possibility. We see that as a major step forward for the safety of our players and probably the biggest benefit that we’ll see by utilizing this app.”

Teams in BC Rugby and the CHL are also using HeadCheck to assess head injuries.