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Despite growing awareness of the dangers, Canadian sports organizations are not equipped to prevent concussions, according to a coalition of health organizations that called Thursday for adoption of concussion protocols by all sporting groups.

The Canadian Concussion Collaborative recommended that every organization responsible for “operating, regulating or planning sport and sporting events with a risk of concussion” be required to have a concussion management protocol that is reviewed annually.

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The first questions parents should ask before signing their children up for contact sports such as hockey, football, soccer or basketball is whether there is a concussion protocol in place and what it says, said Doug MacQuarrie, head of the Ottawa-based Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports and a member of the concussion collaborative.

Concussions are taken more seriously than they once were, but fewer than half of sports organizations in Canada — about 41 per cent — have concussion management policies in place. A number of studies have demonstrated that if identified early and managed properly, most concussions will resolve within a week to 10 days. Concussion management guidelines can contribute to that early identification and better management to help limit further brain damage, according to the group.