Injuries from Less-Lethal Weapons during the George Floyd Protests in Minneapolis

Kaske, Erika A; Cramer, Samuel W.; Pino, Isabela Pena; Truong, Huy Q.; Ladd, Bryan; Sturtevant, Dylan T; Ahmadi, Aliya; Taha, Birra; Freeman, David L.; Wu, Joel T.; Cunningham, Brooke A.; Hardeman, Rachel R.; Satin, David J; Darrow, David

doi:10.1056/nejmc2032052

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…This increase resulted in injuries from a variety of LLIMs being reported across the USA [5,25] with several of these injuries being to the head, neck, and face. In one report [25], over 13% of the cases resulted in moderate to severe injuries with surgical intervention being required in 8% of the cases and another 18% sustaining a traumatic brain injury. This is in contrast to what has been previously report by Beatty et al [26], where only 3% of injuries over a 9-year period were considered clinically significant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Less Lethal Impact Munitions Using the Facial and Ocular CountermeasUre for Safety (FOCUS) Headform

Bir

Sherman

MacDonald

et al. 2022

Hum Factors Mech Eng Def Saf

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Recent social protests and gatherings in the USA have prompted law enforcement agencies to increase their use of less lethal impact munitions (LLIMs) for crowd control. Media reports and firsthand accounts have indicated that many of the LLIMs are impacting individuals in the head and neck regions. There is very little data available on the risk of injury (ROI) from LLIM impacts to these body regions. The Facial and Ocular CountermeasUre for Safety (FOCUS) surrogate headform was used to assess the ROI (fracture) from LLIM impacts. LLIMs were fired at the FOCUS headform to determine the ROI to the frontal and maxilla bones. Sixteen different LLIMs were assessed which included 12-gauge, 37-mm, and 40-mm caliber projectiles from five manufacturers. The LLIMs included bean bag style, rubber, and foam/sponge projectiles. Each LLIM was tested multiple times to determine the average ROI. The average peak resultant frontal bone force ranged from 2.0 to 7.6 kN which represented ROIs from ~ 30% up to 95%. The average peak resultant maxilla bone force ranged from 1.0 to 4.4 kN which represented ROIs from ~ 30% up to 99%. In general, 12-gauge LLIMs had a lower ROI than the larger caliber LLIMs and the rubber projectiles had a lower ROI than the bean bag style projectiles. Due to the relative thickness, the maxilla has a much lower fracture force than the frontal bone, and this was borne out in the ROIs from the maxilla impacts. Impacts to both bones showed a positive correlation between normalized energy and resultant force (p < 0.01). The slope of the plotted resultant force against the normalized energy for the 12-gauge munitions was significantly smaller compared to larger calibers for both impact sites, frontal (p = 0.031), and maxilla (p < 0.001).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Less Lethal Impact Munitions Using the Facial and Ocular CountermeasUre for Safety (FOCUS) Headform

Bir

Sherman

MacDonald

et al. 2022

Hum Factors Mech Eng Def Saf

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“…[28][29][30][31][32][33][34] During 2020, EHCWs cared for protest participants who suffered serious injuries, including from "less-lethal" weapons used by police for crowd control (such as chemical irritants and projectiles). 17 Given EHCWs' collective experience in caring for patients with injuries related to police use of force, emergency physicians have a Medicine released a statement condemning racial violence 35 and the American College of Emergency Physicians 2020 resolutions included one to ban choke holds and rubber bullets. 36 The EHCWs surveyed were given institutional and departmental opportunities to participate in and learn about the civil movement against systemic racism (Figure 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…16 In addition to caring for the victims of police violence, EHCWs also cared for those who suffered serious injuries while participating in the protests against police violence in 2020. 17 Research has also shown that Black communities have had higher morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. 18 Increased exposure to these systemic racial issues during 2020 may have contributed negatively to the wellness of EHCWs.…”

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confidence: 99%

The impact of racism on emergency health care workers

Kaltiso

Seitz

Zdradzinski

et al. 2021

Academic Emergency Medicine

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Although racism is a constant reality and threat for many, the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the civil movement against systemic racism that followed were significant sources of stress in 2020. 1 Racism can be classified into three levels: personally mediated, internalized, and systemic or institutionalized. 2 Personally mediated racism is defined as "prejudice and discrimination." 2 Internalized racism is the "acceptance by members of the stigmatized races of negative messages" about themselves. 2 Systemic or institutionalized racism is defined as "differential access to the goods, services, and opportunities of society by race." 2

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“…2 Although less-lethal munitions are not designed to inflict penetrating trauma or cause severe injury, recent reports have demonstrated that this type of munition can indeed cause severe injury associated with significant morbidity and mortality. [3][4][5][6][7] A systematic review conducted by Haar and colleagues 8 demonstrated that 15% of patients injured by these munitions experienced significant disability, with a mortality rate of 3%. Injury to the head and neck was described as particularly devastating.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Penetrating deep pelvic injury due to “less-lethal” beanbag munitions: a case report and policy implications

Schenck

Lokeshwar

Riedel

et al. 2021

Trauma Surg Acute Care Open

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“Less-lethal” munitions are designed to cause incapacitation and are often used by law enforcement officers. Although these munitions are not designed to cause severe injury, recent reports have demonstrated that they can cause severe injury, permanent disability, and death. The long-term consequences of injury due to less-lethal munitions are not well understood. We present a case of osteomyelitis and pelvic abscess secondary to a retained beanbag munition following penetrating injury in the setting of a patient with delayed presentation for care. The patient underwent surgical removal of the retained beanbag munition and irrigation and debridement of the osteomyelitis and pelvic abscess with an excellent functional outcome. We discuss the public health and policy implications of serious injury due to less-lethal munitions.

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Injuries from Less-Lethal Weapons during the George Floyd Protests in Minneapolis

Cited by 26 publications

References 3 publications

Assessment of Less Lethal Impact Munitions Using the Facial and Ocular CountermeasUre for Safety (FOCUS) Headform

Assessment of Less Lethal Impact Munitions Using the Facial and Ocular CountermeasUre for Safety (FOCUS) Headform

The impact of racism on emergency health care workers

Penetrating deep pelvic injury due to “less-lethal” beanbag munitions: a case report and policy implications

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