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Chapter 13 - Civil Unrest: Caring for Police and Protesters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2023

By
Scott A. Goldberg  and
Stephen G. DeVries
Edited by
Mark Curato ,
Kaushal Shah  and
Christopher Reisig
Mark Curato
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
Kaushal Shah
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
Christopher Reisig
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
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Summary

Incidents of civil unrest are increasing in frequency across the United States and may involve protests or demonstrations in response to political or economic activities, responses to concerts or sporting events, or in response to controversial actions by law enforcement. During these incidents, injuries may occur either in isolation or in associated interactions with law enforcement personnel. There are specific patterns of injury that are unique to protests and encounters with law enforcement, and it is important for the urban emergency medicine practitioner to have a fundamental understanding of the management of common injuries associated with law enforcement interactions. This chapter will highlight the general principles of emergency department care during periods of civil unrest, including best practices for interacting with both public safety personnel and private citizens. Patterns of injury will be explored, including injuries occurring from kinetic impact projectiles, conducted electrical weapons, and crowd dispersal agents, in addition to other less-common injury patterns encountered during periods of civil unrest.

Keywords

Civil unrestmass gathering medicineemergency preparednessdisaster medicine
Type
Chapter
Information
Urban Emergency Medicine , pp. 161 - 172
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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