The fatalities of the Intifada (uprising): the first five years

Pattern of rubber bullet injuries in the lower limbs: A report from Kashmir

PURPOSE

Rubber bullets are considered a non-lethal method of crowd control and are being used over the world. However the literature regarding the pattern and management of these injuries is scarce for the forensic pathologist as well as for the traumatologist. The objective of this report was to add our experience to the existing literature.

METHODS

From June 2008 to August 2010 the Government Hospital for Bone and Joint Surgery Barzulla and the Department of Orthopaedics, SKIMS Medical College/Hospital Bemina Srinagar received 28 patients for management of their orthopaedic injuries caused by rubber bullets. We documented all injuries and also recorded the management issues and complications that we encountered.

RESULTS

All patients weremales with an age range of 11e32 years and were civilians who had been hit by rubber bullets fired by the police and the paramilitary forces. Among them, 19 patients had injuries of the lower limbs and 9 patients had injuries of the upper limbs. All patients were received within 6 h of being shot.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that these weapons are capable of causing significant injuries including fractures and it is important for the surgeon to be well versed with the management of such injuries especially in areas of unrest. The report is also supportive of the opinion that these weapons are lethal and should hence be reclassified.

Blunt and penetrating injuries caused by rubber bullets during the Israeli-Arab conflict in October, 2000: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Low-velocity rubber bullets were used by Israeli police to control riots by Israeli-Arabs in early October, 2000. We aimed to establish the factors that contribute to severity of blunt and penetrating injuries caused by these missiles.

METHODS

We analysed medical records of 595 casualties admitted. We assessed relation of severity of injury to type of bullet, anatomical region of injury, and final outcome. Severity of injury was established by the abbreviated injury scale, and we calculated injury severity score.

FINDINGS

151 males and one female (age range 11-59 years) were included in the study, in whom 201 proven injuries by rubber bullets were detected. Injuries were distributed randomly over the body surface and were mostly located in the limbs (n=73), but those to the head, neck, and face (61), chest (39), back (16), and abdomen (12) were also frequently noted. 93 (61%) patients had blunt injuries and 59 (39%) penetrating ones. Severity of injury was dependent on ballistic features of the bullet, firing range, and anatomic site of impact. Two casualties died after a penetrating ocular injury into the brain and one died as a result of postoperative aspiration after a knee injury.

INTERPRETATION

Resistance of the body surface at the site of impact (elastic limit) is the important factor that ascertains whether a blunt or penetrating injury is inflicted and its severity. Inaccuracy of rubber bullets and improper aiming and range of use resulted in severe injury and death in a substantial number of people. This ammunition should therefore not be considered a safe method of crowd control.

Suicide bombers in Israel

Between 1993 and 1995, 14 suicidal terrorist bombings took place in Israel; 86 victims perished in these attacks, which were carried out by militant Palestinian organizations that oppose peace treaties between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people. The modus operandi of the perpetrators was detonating, in a public area, an explosive device carried on or in close proximity to the terrorist's body. We reviewed the postmortem examinations and identification procedures performed by the medical and law enforcement personnel involved in mass disaster management. The types of injuries sustained by the victims and perpetrators include body disruption, explosive injuries, flying missile injuries, and blast injuries. Blunt trauma directly produced by the explosion and flying missile injuries account for 80.1% of the wounds. The number of fatalities was more closely related to the type of the attack rather than to the amount and type of explosives used. Swift identification of all victims and perpetrators was obtained through collaboration between the different professional teams involved: forensic scientists, law enforcement agencies, and secret service investigators. Based on the analysis of the data obtained from the necroscopic examinations, we observed that most of the wounds sustained fall within the realm of blunt force injuries; emergency medical facilities that might be faced with similar situations should prepare accordingly. Collaboration between the various forensic and law enforcement teams results in swift resolution of disaster management. Prompt identification of the perpetrators allows the authorities to apprehend any accomplices and to prevent similar attacks.

Forensic medicine in Israel

We discuss the Israeli medicolegal system, which is rooted in remnants of British jurisprudence. Forensic services for the entire country and the occupied territories (Judea and Samaria), and now the Palestinian Autonomy (Gaza Strip and Jericho), are supplied by one central institute located in Tel Aviv. That organization, the L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine, is a department of the Ministry of Health and has academic affiliation with the University of Tel Aviv. About 2,000 necroscopic examinations are performed annually, and the types of cases encountered in the forensic practices in Israel are noted. The academic and research activities of the Institute's staff are described, with emphasis on collaboration with overseas forensic scientists. The modern history of the country is reflected in the chronicle of the evolution of its forensic medicine.

Pediatric craniocerebral wounds from plastic bullets: prognostic implications, course, and outcome

OBJECTIVE

To review our experience with craniocerebral injuries caused by plastic bullets, and to delineate prognostic factors for outcome.

DESIGN

Retrospective case series of 29 patients presenting with plastic bullet-induced craniocerebral lesions.

SETTING

Pediatric intensive care department of a tertiary care center.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Outcome was poor in 10 patients, good in 11, and two and six patients were moderately and severely disabled, respectively. Statistical analysis showed prognostic significance of the admission Glasgow Coma Scale score, computed tomographic findings of intraventricular hemorrhage and midline shift, and metabolic studies including hypokalemia and hyperglycemia.

CONCLUSIONS

Plastic bullet-induced craniocerebral injuries carry a lower morbidity and mortality rate compared with other gunshot wounds. However, plastic bullets do incur a significant risk of injury. Their use should be carefully regulated.

Beaten to death: why do they die?

The remains of 53 men that had been beaten to death were examined. Six (11.3%) died of either blood aspiration or intracranial hemorrhage; 15 of the cases (28.3%) succumbed to hypovolemic shock, and 32 of the cases (60.4%) died of fat embolism syndrome (FES). Fractures of long bones were found only in four victims. Fatal FES produced by the mechanical disintegration of adipose tissue that migrates into the bloodstream seems to be a common phenomenon in the fatalities examined in this study. No correlation, however, was found between the presence of long bone fractures and the severity of FES, and no bone marrow emboli were detected on histologic examination of target organs. Scattered subcutaneous hematomata were present in all of the victims, although the volume of extravasated blood could not be calculated from the total surface area of the bruises. Contusions limited to the limbs have the potential of masking fatal volumes of extravasated blood that suffuse the musculature mass. Hypovolemic and neurogenic shock, as well as systemic effects of crush injury, should be considered contributing factors to death from FES. These findings contradict the previously published postulate that victims of blunt force trauma succumb primarily to massive hemorrhages.