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Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine 2/2020

01-03-2020 | Original Article

Effects of police body armour on overmatching ballistic injury

Authors: Alexander Mabbott, Debra J. Carr

Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine | Issue 2/2020

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Abstract

Overmatching occurs when body armour that has been designed to resist perforation by a specified projectile is perforated by a greater threat. This may result in wounding to the body armour wearer. In this work, overmatching of two types of police body armour was studied using two types of ammunition. The use of a 250-mm-long gelatine block to represent the depth of the human torso combined with armour panels mounted on the anterior and posterior of the block allowed for a more realistic simulation to be completed. There was some evidence to suggest that overmatching events could lead to increased levels of damage during a survivable incident compared with no body armour being present. This information is of interest to armour designers and medical personnel that might treat such wounds.
Footnotes
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GELITA® AG, UferstraBe 7, D-69412, Eberbach, Germany; Bloom strength 263
 
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Metadata
Title
Effects of police body armour on overmatching ballistic injury
Authors
Alexander Mabbott
Debra J. Carr
Publication date
01-03-2020
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
International Journal of Legal Medicine / Issue 2/2020
Print ISSN: 0937-9827
Electronic ISSN: 1437-1596
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02070-9

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