Doctors have long warned that chokeholds are deadly

Many police departments are banning their officers from using the type of neck restraint a man used to subdue Jordan Neely on the subway of New York.

When a New York City subway rider used a chokehold that ended up killing 30-year-old homeless man Jordan Neely, he employed a technique that many neurologists believe is so dangerous that it should not be allowed in law enforcement.

Chokeholds or chokeholds are also known as the name of neck compressions, which involve applying pressure to both sides of the neck. They are permitted in some martial arts competitions, and some US military personnel in ground combat units may be taught to apply chokeholds and associated safety releases, during training.

But in recent years, police departments have increasingly banned the use of chokeholds, following events such as the deaths of Eric Garner and George Floyd.

There is little data on how often police used the chocks or what the consequences were. Among the few studies, one reports that officers in Spokane, Washington used neck restraints 230 times in the eight years to May 2021, when Washington State banned them.

While no fatalities have been recorded in the use of wedges by this service, neurologists say the dangers of neck compression are indisputable.

Dr. Altaf Saadi, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, explained that choking and choking can kill or cause brain damage in two ways. They can compress the trachea, preventing the person from getting air into the lungs. And they can compress the carotid arteries, which are on either side of the neck, adjacent to the trachea. Seventy percent of the blood that goes to the brain passes through the carotids, Dr Saadi said. If this blood flow is cut off during a choke or chokehold, some people can become unconscious within three to four seconds. If the flow continues to be restricted, a person can die in three to four minutes.