Hope I do not bore you to death!!
Ran through spell check for you guys (!) to at least get some of it out. I am not running it 9 times which is what would be required for perfection!! That is quite a feat to make spell check go into overtime!!
I am glad they are pointing to mental health in the other case. And discussing training officers how to handle the mentally ill better.Officers screaming at someone who is losing it only escalates them Fast movemnts scare them. Givng them directions fast confuses them .
It is also valid that there are effective deescalation techniques that are effective .
. Very often (not always) but like 95% of the time the escalation takes time and often can be observed ahead of the final explosion. You see increased pacing, quicker arm movements, talking to self or to Jesus, cowering in a corner afraid something is out to hurt them focusing on one person in the unit. The closer they get to losing it they bemuse lounder ( as witnessed in video) In the earlier video 9after he leaces the store) note his gait got faster, he is looking around more, he looks hesitant at times.
The technique we used went like this . One of us on the team would notice an individual escalating. Depending on diagnosis , history , mediation compliance, how long pt on unit, the first priority is to clear the unit. safety. A lot of times we let everyone go to the smoking area! It IT also provides the individual less stimulation.
We organized 5 staff members. Depending on the state of the unit if we needed more staff we would call the other unit and get more staff. AN escalating pt indeed increases the agitation on the entire unit. The takedown is usually scary for other PTS as well. And since they are more stable, they are aware most of the time to know that a takedown might occur.
We got five staff, assigned each person an arm a leg and one for the waist . The support staff usually did the limbs while we (the clinicians) handled the middle . They had a bit more relationship with us cause of group. The four other staff stand behind us. We lead at the head of the pack. No other staff members are allowed to speak with the pt. Only us. You whisper, the group walks slowly toward.
You do not get into any of the"stuff" IE Jesus is not goanna hurt you etc. You only state (oaten over and over!) All I care about is you being safe, everyone else on the unit being safe and I want all of us to be safe. NONE likes taking a suffering person down and to seclusion room.HOweVER it is a reality in certain instances.
IF that has happened your team slowly moves in , the goal at that point is to get the pt on the ground less chance of injury. Often they would bite spit urinate or defecate. Ok everyone has parts and you get pt to seclusion room . It is called 5 point restraint. Legs, arms and waist yes it sounds awful but yes there arms , legs are kept form moving - the restraints do not injure we are not talking about handcuffs!
All staff but clinician leave seclusion room. At times talking to them, in the seclsion room can escalate them too. Most of the time , in the decludion room they calmed with one in the seclusion. If that is the case you leave too. Turn the lights lower. Typically a nurse comes in and gives them a shot.
Take down and seclusion are a huge hassle for the staffing levels . When they are in seclusion a staff member has to be takin off the floor and watch the pt through the window and every 15 minutes document pt observed and safe. Seclsion is also a real hassle documentation wise - document document documetn!
BiLive it or not in a lot of instances you can get them to walk to the seclusion room with you without a takedown. They feel safe in their it is quiet. A lot of them liked going if there feeling agitated. Some would even approach you and say I need to go to the seclusion rom. If they go voluntarily you ( again it is assessing) can often not restrain them and they will pace or scream themselves out . They must be released from the seclusion room as early as possible and safe. Sadly some can be in there for days.
And yes it is a scary experience and when I started I did not like doing it. I want to do group, family and infidels (indiiduals_ ( I had to leave spell check change in on this one- I cracked up -- kind of relevant HA! - if I wanted s to do that kind of thing I would have gone into wrestling! JUst was ot my forte!!
But as I got good it , and with experience better able to access if it does get to takedown or a walk to seclusion I felt safe in that my skills I could feel safer that it will not get out of control.
Some were good at it , some awful escalating the pt, getting into power and control issues with someone who is scared, seeing or hear ding things I mean come on that is not the time to do that- it escalates them
Hope I did not bore you - I would thing he was psychotic, could not afford his meds and lost it on the day he lost his life (that one looked like overkill to me sorry two people blasting away ata 85 lb person with a knife - notice none has described a machete!
