Early warning system in football helmets protects athletes.

Active RFID Technology from IDENTEC SOLUTIONS protects football players from overheating.

August 1, 2001 was an oppressively hot summer’s day. The Minnesota Vikings were rushing across the football field in temperatures that measured an excruciating 30 degree Celsius in the shade. Among the players was Korey Stringer, one of the American Football league’s top players. Due to breathing difficulties the football pro ceased training that hot morning – and tragically, a short time later, died from complications associated with heatstroke. Stringer was not the first person to die from overheating, but his notoriety drew international attention to the danger of sport and heatstroke. From that moment on, America declared war on this silent killer.

Committed to developing a solution that would essentially eradicate the possibility heatstroke in football, the American company, Hothead Sports sought out the assistance of IDENTEC SOLUTIONS. In turn, IDENTEC SOLUTIONS, developed an impact-resistant, ultra-light transponder with a built in temperature sensor that guaranteed ultimate accuracy and absolute freedom of movement within an action radius of up to 500m.

Effective preventive care

"The IDENTEC SOLUTIONS transponder built into the Hothead Sports football helmet constantly measures body temperature and relays that data in real time to a PDA,” explains Peter Linke, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing at IDENTEC
SOLUTIONS. “A trainer carries a hand-held computer with him which stores all relevant information on each player. Should a player’s temperature exceed the threshold value, a warning signal sounds allowing team manager or trainer to intervene immediately.” states Linke.

In the future, this ‘early warning system’ could be adapted to other types of sports, the military as well as occupational safety applications. According to Peter Linke, “RFID technology provides numerous application possibilities in the field of preventive care- including heart-rate, caloric consumption, acceleration and force as well as temperature monitoring.”