SECTION 343.816. Chemical Restraints

In addition to the requirements found in §§343.802, 343.804, and 343.806 of this chapter, the use of chemical restraints shall be governed by the following criteria:

(1) chemical restraints shall only be used in response to episodes of resident riot and only then when other forms of approved restraints are deemed to be inappropriate or ineffective;

(2) the use of chemical restraints shall receive incident-specific authorization from the facility administrator. Standing orders authorizing chemical restraints are prohibited;

(3) chemical restraints are restricted to professionally manufactured and commercially available defense sprays and vaporizing agents containing either Oleoresin Capsicum (i.e., OC pepper sprays) or Orthochlorobenzalmalonoitrile (i.e., tear gas);

(4) chemical restraint deployment devices shall be stored in a locked area, and the issuance of these devices to juvenile supervision officers shall not commence until the facility administrator's authorization has been provided;

(5) chemical restraints shall not be used on a resident when he or she is in a personal or mechanical restraint, or otherwise under control;

(6) immediately following the use of a chemical restraint, the exposed resident shall be visually or physically examined by a health care professional and provided treatment if necessary; and

(7) chemical agent compatible neutralizers or decontaminants shall be readily available for use on residents who have been exposed to chemical restraints.

Source Note: The provisions of this §343.816 adopted to be effective January 1, 2010, 34 TexReg 7095