Women less likely than men to get CPR from a stranger

Women less likely than men to get CPR from a stranger


If you are a woman in need of CPR, you had better hope you are having your emergency somewhere other than in public. New research shows women are less likely than men to get CPR from a stranger and are more likely to die as a result.

The University of Pennsylvania researchers chalked up some of their findings to a reluctance among some people to touch an unknown woman’s chest, even when she is in obvious distress.

Their study of over 19,000 adult patients in the United States who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac attack found that 45 percent of the men versus 39 percent of the women received bystander CPR in public settings. As a result, men were 23 percent more likely to survive the crisis.

One thought was that people may fear hurting a woman by pushing hard and fast on her chest. Their main theory, though, was that people may simply worry about moving a woman’s clothing to get better access, or about touching her chest. The researchers pointed out that performing CPR should not entail any of that. Properly done, CPR involves putting hands on the person’s sternum, which is between the breasts.

The findings were concerning because more than 350,000 Americans each year suffer cardiac arrest in settings other than a hospital. About 90 percent of them die, but CPR can double or triple survival odds.

The researchers said they did the study to better educate people about the importance of performing CPR. Anyone can learn to do it and they pointed out that these are life-and-death situations are not the time to be squeamish or shy.

One recommendation for improving training was subtle: The researchers said people learn CPR on mannequins, not “woman-equins,” — usually male torsos.

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