Schutt Sports, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of football helmets, will replace the current warning label it places on every helmet with a new, interactive label starting immediately. This label will link to the new “Heads Up” mobile concussion app developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and announced earlier this week.

The concussion app will give players, coaches and parents immediate access to the most up to date concussion information and knowledge, including appropriate equipment to use for certain sports activities. The warning label marks a big step forward in the education of consumers about concussions and other head injuries.

The new Schutt warning label will feature a permanent, interactive graphic called a QR Code, which can be scanned by any mobile device. Scanning the new Schutt warning label will launch CDC’s new “Heads Up” concussion app, making it very easy for millions of football players, fans, coaches and parents to get the information they’re looking for.

“There is no organization in the country that is more highly recognized for their unbiased and objective work on concussions than CDC,” said Robert Erb, CEO of Schutt Sports. “By using this QR Code on our warning label, we’ll make the very best information from the very best source available immediately – and permanently – on our helmets. We briefly thought about just using a simple hangtag, but we know very few actually get read. Most are thrown away. We wanted to do something more useful than that and really produce something positive in the marketplace.”

Players, coaches and parents can read the new warning label – which has the same text as before – but can now also scan the QR Code, which will launch the “Heads Up” app on their mobile device or make it easy for the user to download the app.

“We rely on innovative partnerships to extend the work of CDC,” said Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “The decal on every football helmet is a creative solution that will extend the Heads Up Campaign message, developed to help keep children and teens as safe as possible from concussion and other serious brain injuries.”

The QR Code included on the label will feature a custom graphic designed for the helmets. The “Heads Up” app features an interactive menu of options, including:

  • Concussion information (how to recognize one, what to do if you suspect someone might have a concussion, return to play protocols and more)
  • Proper helmet fitting instructions for many sports (football, baseball, softball, hockey, lacrosse, action sports and more)
  • Safety tips for many different situations (biking, playgrounds, homes, cars and more)

All new helmets produced by Schutt, along with all Schutt helmets reconditioned by the company, will immediately begin receiving the new warning label. Hundreds of thousands of new and reconditioned helmets will be hitting the shelves and the fields over the next few months – just in time for the 2013 football season.