Handle With Care (HWC) stands as the most encompassing and versatile physical intervention program globally, unmatched in its breadth and depth. It is crucial to understand that HWC’s physical program is intrinsically linked to its verbal de-escalation strategies, both stemming from the same core principle: empowering individuals to master their emotions and behaviors. The ultimate goal is to enable students and clients to skillfully manage their emotions independently, without relying on staff intervention.
HWC training emphasizes a fundamental shift in perspective: physical holds are not actions inflicted upon someone, but rather actions performed for someone’s well-being. The purpose of a hold is to ensure safety – preventing self-harm or harm to others. It’s about providing a supportive physical presence that allows an individual to regain emotional control. Furthermore, holds are utilized to prevent actions driven by momentary lapses in judgment or emotional outbursts that could lead to long-term negative consequences. In essence, you handle with care to protect individuals from both the physical and emotional repercussions of their uncontrolled behavior.
Expert Backing and Real-World Validation
The HWC program underwent a rigorous ten-year period of field study, meticulous development, and continuous oversight by leading medical experts at Pennsylvania Hospital before its public launch. This initial scrutiny was just the beginning. Since its inception, HWC has been subjected to extensive evaluations by a diverse range of authorities. These include prominent medical and forensic experts, state policymakers, chief medical examiners, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, physicians, nurses, paraprofessionals, licensed social workers, educators, school administrators, and state approval boards spanning Juvenile Justice, Education, and Human and Family Services. This widespread review underscores the program’s credibility and practical effectiveness.
Patented for Safety: The Primary Restraint Technique® (PRT®)
At the heart of the Handle With Care program is its patented holding method, known as the Primary Restraint Technique® or PRT®. This proprietary technique is specifically patented for its integrated safeguards designed to prevent positional asphyxia, a critical safety concern in physical interventions. Beyond this primary safety feature, the PRT® method is also engineered to minimize the risk of any other type of medical emergency during a physical hold, prioritizing the well-being of all involved.
Six Core Components of Handle With Care Physical Skills Training
HWC’s physical skills training is structured around six essential components, providing a holistic and progressive approach to intervention:
- Understanding Personal Space: Establishing and respecting personal boundaries is fundamental to de-escalation and preventing conflict.
- HWC’s Personal Defense System: This component encompasses self-defense techniques and strategies for defending others, including third-person interventions and safely breaking up physical altercations.
- Physical Holds: Learning and applying the patented PRT® and other safe and therapeutic holding methods.
- Escort/Transport: Techniques for safely escorting or transporting individuals when necessary, maintaining control and minimizing stress.
- Letting Go: Proper procedures and considerations for safely releasing a hold, ensuring a smooth transition back to self-regulation.
- Specialized & Optional Interventions: Addressing specific needs and situations, such as time-out procedures, seclusion protocols, considerations for pregnant individuals, and tailored approaches for preschool and early elementary-aged children. (Refer to the HWC brochure for a comprehensive list of specialized interventions.)
The HWC Holding Method: Primary Restraint Technique® (PRT®) in Detail
The PRT® stands out as an easily learned, orthopedically sound, and highly effective standing method that provides significant mechanical advantage without causing pain or injury. The therapeutic control communicated through a standing PRT® often negates the need for a takedown. However, when a takedown is unavoidable, the HWC program incorporates a skillfully designed takedown procedure that accounts for kinetic energy, ensuring a controlled descent to the floor without impact.
- Versatile Application: The PRT® holding method is adaptable to standing, seated, prone (face-down), and supine (face-up) positions. HWC offers variations to comply with the specific regulations of every state jurisdiction.
- Patented Safety – The Tripod Modification: The PRT® is the only physical technique to receive a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for its unique combination of safeguards against chest compression and positional asphyxia. Foremost among these is the “Tripod Modification.” This innovative “weight-bearing bridge” enables staff members of all sizes and strengths to perform a safe prone floor hold without placing any weight on the client’s back or chest, a crucial safety feature.
- Non-Prone Restraint Options: Recognizing the need for diverse approaches, HWC also provides non-prone restraint options, including a seated hold particularly suitable for pregnant women and a “Two Person Supine” (face-up) method.
- Specialized Interventions for Diverse Needs: HWC addresses the unique needs of various populations with specialized holding methods and strategies, including:
- Methods for preschool and early elementary-aged children.
- Adaptations for individuals in geri-chairs, wheelchairs, and beds.
- Modifications for clients with special needs such as amputations, fractures, casts, medical conditions, pregnancy, head injuries, developmental and learning disabilities, personality disorders, major psychiatric disorders, dementia, and autism.
- Training in the appropriate use of locked or unlocked seclusion (time-out or quiet rooms), with evidence-based recommendations for their implementation.
- Training in the use of handcuffs and therapeutic or mechanical restraints. (Consult the HWC brochure for a more detailed list.)
- Team Approach is Paramount: HWC strongly advocates for a team approach to physical intervention. While the PRT® is highly effective even in single-person applications, HWC emphasizes that single-person restraint should be reserved for emergency situations when no other options are available. HWC’s two and four-person team restraint components are built around the PRT®, providing structured and coordinated responses to a wide spectrum of behaviors and situations.
Faster De-escalation and Calm with HWC Training
A staff member or educator who lacks confidence in their training will naturally exhibit hesitancy and uncertainty when attempting to de-escalate or physically intervene in a real-world crisis. This lack of confidence is palpable, reflecting fear, apprehension, and a lack of commitment. This, in turn, undermines the confidence of the individual in crisis in those attempting to help. Such tentative intervention can inadvertently overstimulate and further agitate the person experiencing distress.
HWC’s holding methods are engineered to be definitive – characterized by a quality of touch that is both comfortable and therapeutically secure. If your current physical holding methods are ineffective, tentative, or fail to produce the necessary quality of touch for rapid de-escalation, it is crucial to consider adopting a method that does. Research is increasingly validating the effectiveness of definitive touch in crisis intervention. The consistent results achieved with HWC – fewer holds, reduced injuries, and faster recovery times – are not accidental.
The Science Behind HWC’s Effectiveness
- The Autonomic Nervous System: The autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary bodily functions, is composed of two primary branches: the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). Think of the SNS as the body’s “gas pedal,” responsible for the “fight-or-flight” response, activating and stimulating the body during stress or perceived threat. Conversely, the PNS acts as the “brake,” promoting the “rest-and-digest” response, which calms the body, facilitating relaxation, clarity, and focus. Crucially, these two systems are reciprocal; they inhibit each other. Therefore, activating the PNS through relaxation and calming techniques, such as deep pressure and handling with care through definitive touch, naturally dampens the SNS response responsible for fight-or-flight and stress.
- Definitive Touch and the PNS: Definitive touch, when applied therapeutically, directly activates the PNS, inducing a calming, focused, relaxed, and balanced state. This allows the individual receiving the touch to feel safe, comforted, and grounded.
- Serotonin Release: Activating the PNS through definitive touch also stimulates the production of serotonin, a vital neurotransmitter associated with relaxation, sleep regulation, and mood stabilization.
This precise biochemical and physiological response is exactly what is desired when utilizing a physical holding method in crisis intervention. It is the underlying reason why schools and organizations implementing HWC’s program consistently experience fewer injuries, fewer incidents requiring physical intervention, and significantly shorter hold durations. By prioritizing handling with care and understanding the body’s natural stress response system, HWC provides a truly therapeutic and effective approach to physical intervention.
