Are Restraint Chair Hazards Heightened Due to Jail Overcrowding?

Multiple jails reporting overcrowding issues end up with violations related to the supervision of inmates. A strict face-to-face observation requirement is imposed on jails when they place an inmate in a restraint chair. Every 15 minutes, an inmate in one of these devices should be checked, including ensuring that blood circulation to extremities has not been cut off. When a jail is understaffed and/or overcrowded, observations of inmates are neglected to the extent that annual jail inspections discover the deficiency.

These restraint devices produce immobilization of all of an individual’s limbs and sometimes his or her torso, as well. The restrictive nature of this type of restraint has been shown to result in blood clots, including deadly pulmonary embolisms.

Studies show that when immobilization in a restraint chair follows physical trauma, that is when potentially fatal blood clots are prone to develop. Yet it is rare for a person to be placed in this device without the physical trauma of forced submission to being strapped down by the ankles and wrists. Sometimes the torso is also strapped down, though some restraint chair manufacturers’ instructions specify that no one should be strapped around the neck, chest, or head.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this continuing series.

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–Guest Contributor