Website intended for a NZ health professional readership
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
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
Pharmacist prescribers Linda Bryant and Leanne Te Karu discuss positive polypharmacy for heart failure. Current evidence shows the intensive implementation of four medications offers the greatest benefit to most patients with heart failure, with significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality, heart failure hospitalisations and all-cause mortality
