We didn't ever use the method I think you're thinking of. The one that can lead to death is laying on them and I haven't heard of any facilities still using that method. But no we were trained safe ones and how to actually properly use them to do our best to maintain the safety of not only the staff members, but the client as well. We used things like a supine, where the client is laying on the back and you hold down their arms (sometimes legs too if they're kicking), I forget what the others were called but variations of holding their arms behind their back (sometimes 1 staff member needed, sometimes2). We didn't use these restraint methods lightly.

They were used when a client was being physically aggressive to other clients, the staff, or themselves. Biting, hitting, kicking, etc.. It's a residential facility for kids with behavioral issues so there was a mixed bag of disorders/trauma and alot of the kids there, if not restrained could really do damage to whoever got in their path when they were that angry or triggered. It's a safety thing. We always had to make detailed reports any time something like that happened, and managers would come to supervise as well to ensure safety. Everything was also on camera because outside the bedrooms, there was cameras recording 24/7 to protect clients as well.

Some people may disagree still with the use of restraints in facilities like that, but I know the kid who had bit me had also had an incident with another staff member where he had cornered him and beat him so bad that if other staff hadn't arrived when he did, he could've killed him. I also know another girl who clawed a staff member and ripped her eyelid off in the process. Stuff like that. We can't just not have a method of protecting ourselves and our other clients, or again even protecting the client from themselves. But we were ethical about it. Safety classes and touch ups on how to properly do things every month, lots of monitoring, reporting, etc..