An Advocacy Group Spotlights the Potential Dangers of Restraint Chairs

An advocacy group taking a stand against using restraint chairs on persons in any setting prepared a report on the topic. The group’s position is that every type of restraint is unsafe but, they say, restraint chairs are the most dangerous of them all. They also claim that restraint chairs are a particular health threat to people with disabilities and youth.

It is widely recognized that restraint chairs can cause serious injury and death. Not only are there documented cases but the potential for harm and death is a fact included in some restraint chair manufacturers’ instructions.

In the U.S., restraint chairs are most often put into use in county jails and prisons.

 What Makes Restraint Chairs So Dangerous?

The following are among the common causes of injury and death associated with placing a person in a restraint, including a restraint chair:

• Strangulation
• Cardiac arrest
• Asphyxiation
• Broken bones
• Trauma
• Blood clots

The potential for harm is exacerbated when a person is kept in a restraint chair for long periods of time. Although only a few hours is the maximum recommended by restraint chair manufacturers, individuals have sometimes been kept in a restraint chair for days.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and this continuing series.

The goal of this website is to provide helpful resources that will benefit inmates in Texas now or previously held in a municipal or county jail. Insinuating that a person or institution has participated in acts of wrongdoing is never intended on this site.

–Guest Contributor