Rubber bullets, sponge rounds, and other projectile weapons can cause serious head injuries and should not be used for crowd control, authors of a new study conclude.
The research shows that some who participated in protests following last year's police killing of George Floyd sustained hits to the eye and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), among other wounds.
Erika Kaske
Neurosurgeons will likely see more such cases if police continue to use such weapons during protests, lead author Erika Kaske, a third-year medical student at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, told Medscape Medical News.
"It's important to stress that traumatic brain injuries can cause severe illness and severe long-term consequences," Kaske said.
The findings were presented at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) 2021 Annual Meeting.
Soft Descriptions, Rigid Materials
Rubber bullets and other such weapons are launched from a modified firearm and travel somewhat more slowly than a bullet from a gun, Kaske noted. These weapons used to be considered nonlethal. Currently, they are considered to be "less lethal," because it is now clear that they can be deadly.
In addition to chemical sprays, these less lethal weapons include "kinetic impact" projectiles. "While these weapons have soft-sounding descriptors, such as rubber, foam, or bean bag, they typically include more rigid materials," Kaske said
