Many nurses work with patients who are experiencing various levels of pain, fear, and emotional distress, which can sometimes lead to violence. As a result, nurses are sometimes choked by patients; and not only with their bare hands, but with I.V. tubing, electrical cords, medical device leads, I.D. lanyards, and even bedsheets! This places them, of course, in great danger of asphyxiation, spinal chord injury, loss of blood flow to the brain, and damage to the airway.
Any sort of grab, including a choke hold, also places healthcare workers in danger for subsequent attack's, such as bites, as seen in the following link to a 2018 AP story, "Nurse choked, part of her ear bitten off at psychiatric hospital"
Nurse choked, part of her ear bitten off at psychiatric hospital (nbc4i.com)
Have an Escape Plan
The lesson here is that no matter how we are grabbed, we need one minimally invasive technique to escape that is easy to learn, remember, and apply, when we are grabbed by a patient or visitor. So instead of focusing on how you are grabbed, you can immediately recall that ONE technique that will make your escape, no matter how YOU are grabbed.”
As shown in our first “Tactical Thursday”, the Apex Defense will assist in a variety of tactics to escape from grips and grabs, and chokes.
The APEX Defense applied with the Turtle Shell technique, protects the airway and reduces the pressure around a nurse's neck. Then by simply clapping and grasping your own hands over the top of the attackers wrists and using your body to spin, you can force the release of an attackers grip from around your neck, even if they are of greater size and strength. Sound complicated? It isn't, as you will see in the video below.
Then once you have escaped from their grasp, you still have to train to get safe and get help, by leaving the scene immediately while you “Sound Alert & Create Alarm,” letting the patient know you want them to STOP and alerting others in the area and inspiring them to come to your assistance.
See This Tactic in Action
As you will see, it doesn't matter how they grab you or choke you, or with which hand or both hands. At Vistelar, all our trained self-protection skills build on the others to provide a simplified approach that is easy to learn and use when you need it most.
Watch this video of the Standing Front Choke Defense including right handed, left handed, and both hands here: