Conditions and circumstances predisposing to death from positional asphyxia in adults

Incidence and outcome of prone positioning following police use of force in a prospective, consecutive cohort of subjects

“…24,25 Positional asphyxia has been described in the following contexts of entrapment: unusual body positions such as in a full jackknife position or wedged head down between hard surfaces with no ability to self-rescue; under fallen vehicles; while heavily intoxicated with occlusion of the upper airway but no reflexive airway protection; in combination with significant medical disorders associated with musculoskeletal weakness such as multiple sclerosis, paraplegia or quadriplegia or significant obesity; or other variations including infants left in the prone position on soft surfaces or wedged between a mattress and another object. 24e27…”

Characteristics, circumstances and toxicology of sudden or unnatural deaths involving very high-range alcohol concentrations

“…Alcohol also increases the risk of death from falls, fire and drowning, and is seen in similar proportions to motor vehicle accident fatalities [11,24,[26][27][28][29][30]. Acute intoxication may also contribute to death from positional asphyxia [31,32].…”

Pathophysiologic changes due to TASER® devices versus excited delirium: Potential relevance to deaths-in-custody?

“…Byard et al 81 have reviewed studies pertinent to this question. Hypoxia, even in anesthetized animals (i.e., without the perception of pain), could trigger a rapid stress reaction, leading to the release of both epinephrine and norepinephrine into the blood.…”