Positional asphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia which occurs when someone's position prevents them from breathing adequately. A small but significant number of people die suddenly and without apparent reason during restraint by police, prison (corrections) officers and health care staff. Positional asphyxia may be a factor in some of these deaths. Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body. ... While not moving, a human can be in one of the following main positions. ... For the play Breath by Samuel Beckett, see Breath (play). ...
Positional asphyxia is a potential danger of some physical restraint techniques,
People may die from positional asphyxia by simply getting themselves into a breathing-restricted position they cannot get out of, either through carelessness or as a consequence of another accident.
Small children under two are particularly at risk from positional asphyxia.
Research has suggested that restraining a person in a face down position is likely to cause greater restriction of breathing than restraining a person face up. Many law enforcement and health personnel are now taught to avoid restraining people face down or to do so only for a very short period of time. Risk factors which may increase the chance of death include obesity, prior cardiac or respiratory problems, and the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine. Almost all subjects who have died during restraint have engaged in extreme levels of physical resistance against the restraint for a prolonged period of time. Other issues in the way the subject is restrained can also increase the risk of death, for example kneeling or otherwise placing weight on the subject and particulary any type of restraint hold around the subjects neck. Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as handcuffs, shackles, straitjackets, ropes, straps or other forms of physical restraint. ... An accident is something going wrong unexpectedly. ... A male toddler A child (plural: children) is a young human. ...
Some researchers report that the effects of restraint on oxygen levels is limited, and that other factors must be present to explain sudden deaths during restraint. Other researchers point out that deaths in real life situations occur after prolonged, violent resistance which has not been studied in laboratory simulations.
Positionalasphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia which occurs when someone's position prevents them from breathing adequately.
Positionalasphyxia may be a factor in many of these deaths.
People may die from positionalasphyxia by simply getting themselves into a breathing-restricted position they cannot get out of, either through carelessness or as a consequence of another accident.
Asphyxia can literally be translated from the Greek as meaning 'absence of pulse', but is usually the term given to deaths due to 'anoxia' or 'hypoxia'.
Postural asphyxia is a related condition, recently coming to the fore due to interest in deaths in police custardy etc, and may involve splinting of the diaphragm during restraint, coupled with the additional requirements for oxygen during a struggle.
When oxygen is not able to reach the lungs because of external occlusion of the mouth and/ or nose, or the airway at the level of the larynx is obstructed (eg by a bolus of food), the cause of the asphyxial death is 'obstruction of the airways'.
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