Police body armour in the United Kingdom (UK) is designed to provide protection from edged weapons and low-velocity pistol ammunition. Recent events have raised concern about whether UK police body armour and associated personal protective equipment (PPE) provides protection from military threats such as improvised explosive devices (IED) and grenades. In this paper PPE worn by specialised police officers was assessed for its protective performance from a specified grenade threat. The major cause of injury suffered by police officers challenged by a modern military grenade would be from the associated fragmentation which perforated coveralls, boots, helmet and soft body armour, but not hard armour plates.
BullAMJClasperJMahoneyPF (2016) Blast Injury Science and Engineering: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers. London, UK: Springer International Publishing.
2.
CahillKBoothMMercerJet al. (2017) The protective performance of selected UK police body armour challenged by grenades. International Symposium on BallisticsSeptember 11–15. Long Beach, CA, USA.
3.
CantDSAshmoreADrayJet al. (2016) A comparison of fragment simulating projectiles and real fragments with respect to soft body armour performance. International Symposium on BallisticsMay 9–13, 2016, Edinburgh, UK.
4.
ChampionHRHolcombJBYoungLA (2009) Injuries from explosions: Physics, biophysics, pathology and required research focus. The Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection and Critical Care66(5): 1468–1477.
5.
CroftJLonghurstD. (2007) HOSDB Body Armour Standards for UK Police. Part 2: Ballistic Resistance Publication No. 39/07/B. Sandridge, St Albans: Home Office Scientific Development Branch.
6.
Defence Safety Authority Ministry of Defence. (2016) Handbook of Defence Ranges Safety (JSP 403). Bristol, UK.
GurneyRW (1943) The Initial Velocities of Fragments from Bombs, Shells, and Grenades. BRL-405. Aberdeen, MD: Ballistic Research Laboratory.
9.
HairulnizamTKamauzamanTAhmadRet al. (2007) Hand grenade blast injuries: An experience in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences14(2): 58–61.
KargerBZweihoffRFDuChesneA (1999) Injuries from hand grenades in civilian settings. International Journal of Legal Medicine112(6): 372–375.
12.
KeeneDDPenn-BarwellJGWoodPRet al. (2015) Died of wounds: A mortality review. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps162(5): 355–360.
13.
LewisEAMalbonCBreezeJet al. (2017) Personal armour used by UK Armed Forces and UK Police Forces. In BreezeJPenn-BarwellJKeeneDet al. (eds) Ballistic Trauma. 4th ed. London: Springer International Publishing, 47–62.
14.
National Bomb Center Data (1974) General Information Bulletin 74-9. Estimating Blast Pressures Resulting from the Detonation of Explosives Commonly Used in Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, NJ: National Bomb Data Center (NBDC).
RamasamyAClasperJCStewartMPM (2008) Injuries from roadside improvised explosive devices. The Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection, and Critical Care65(4): 910–914.
17.
RyanJMCooperGJHaywoodIRet al. (1991) Field surgery on a future conventional battlefield: strategy and wound management. Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England73(1): 13–20.
18.
SadovskyMA (1952) Mechanical effects of air shock waves from explosion according to experiments. Physics of Explosions. Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1: 70–110.
19.
SeyhanECengizS. (2017) The crime scene reconstruction of the shrapnel effect on human body by two hand grenades detonated in a room: a case study approach. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences7(1). DOI: 10.1186/s41935-017-0011-0.
