Of the studies that have looked at non-judical hanging the incidence of c-spine injury has been found to be only 0.4 - 0.6 %, and then was related to a significant drop, not from simply behind a door handle or off a chair. So although a c-spine injury is a potential risk, in the context of a suicide type hanging with only a small drop, the main risks are to airway and vascular injury, and you can manage your patient bearing that in mind. Ill follow-up with the references, as I do not have them here at work, but the very low incidence has been found in multiple studies.
Craig
Dr Craig Ellis
Emergency Medicine Registrar
Wellington Hospital
Wellington, New Zealand.
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