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With anti-lockdown and anti-racism protests going on around the world, law enforcement officials are turning to crowd control measures dubbed as “less-lethal”.
Occupational health expert David McBride reviews the history of these weapons and whether they are truly less than lethal
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References:
1. Millar R, Rutherford WH, Johnson S, Malhotra VJ. Injuries caused by rubber bullets: a report on 90 patients. Br J Surg 1975;62(6):480–86.
2. Sheridan SM, Whitlock RI. Plastic baton round injuries. Br J Oral Surg 1983;21(4):259–67.
3. Cardwell, H. Sponge bullets fired at Māori in more than half of incidents - police data. 16 July 2020. www.rnz.co.nz
4. Haar RJ, Iacopino V, Ranadive N, et al. Death, injury and disability from kinetic impact projectiles in crowd-control settings: a systematic review. BMJ Open 2017;7:e018154
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