I have seen these fitted ( or other very low Ohm units ) as a sort of "sacrificial" component like a fuse. Often where it has been used is where space is limited, and there is a very low likelyhood of it needing to do it's job. Cost is less than a pico fuse or similar ( I can buy a thousand 10R for about 10 dollars, way less than any fuse ). Modems come to mind, where there are often a pair of 6R8 or similar resistors on the incoming phoneline. A surge on the line will quickly open a metal film resistor, but in use it has very little effect on the circuit.
We often do the same at work, placing 10R metal film resistor on the gate leads of paralleled FET's, improves the operation and also prevents a shorted FET from doing damge to the rest of the circuitry.