Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an essential life-saving technique and everyone should have basic knowledge about it. CPR can temporarily sustain life during a cardiac arrest until the person can be taken to the hospital. In a world where close to ninety percent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) are fatal, CPR should be included in the high school curriculum. Research carried out by Sonali Munot et al (Munot, 2024), which was about assessing the relationship between CPR done by bystanders and the sex of patients, discovered that women were less likely to receive CPR by bystanders.
CPR
After they had analyzed the data, they found out that out of 4,491 cases, there was a lesser possibility that women received bystander CPR in both public and private places. Also, they found out that OHCA is perceived differently in women. The study shows that the probability of recognizing OHCA in women during an emergency call was lower in public places. These facts have stirred concerns from various health practitioners and they are blaming it on the lack of female CPR skills. Due to the unavailability of female manikins or manikins with breasts, emergency responders might not have the right kind of skills to successfully achieve CPR in a female.
Study shows that there are more flat-torsoed manikins on the market
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Dr. Rebbeca Szabo led a study (Szabo, 2024) that discovered that out of all the manikin samples assessed, only one had female characteristics – breasts. After a rigorous screening process, a total of twenty manikins were acquired; eight were identified as males, seven had no gender tag but were all flat-chested, and the remaining five were tagged as females, but only one had protruding breasts. Regarding body build and skin tone, ninety percent of the samples had the typical male appearance.
Overall, this study included nine manikin manufacturers. The researchers think that these companies have a big role to play in the situation and can influence at will the quality and type of manikins produced. More generally, all enterprises, including those that manufacture goods and the institutions that buy them, educational, medical, and other institutions have an internationally acknowledged obligation to respect human rights.
The psychology behind the issue
The prevailing circumstances have created a situation where bystanders and even emergency care officials are afraid to touch the chests of females who need CPR because of criticism from society, fear of being sued, cultural bias, and lack of experience on how to handle a female chest.
A study by Sara Perman and her colleagues carried out a survey (Perman, 2019) to find out the reasons why women get less CPR. Most of the participants thought that the act may be perceived as inappropriate touch. They were afraid of being tagged “perverts” or being judged by society.
Another reason is the fear of being accused of sexual assault or harassment. People are afraid of negative reactions from bystanders and don’t just want to go to jail for touching a woman.
Again, people are afraid of breaking a rib because they see women as weak or fragile, which might still lead to a lawsuit anyway.
Public health implications
The findings of these studies have revealed a gap in CPR training which has been ignored for a long time. The lack of anatomically representative manikins in CPR training has bred skill deficiencies among bystanders and emergency responders when addressing cardiac emergencies in women. If this circumstance continues, sadly we may have more women dying from cardiac arrest on the streets. To counteract this, attention should be drawn to the urgent need for regulations that require sex and gender consideration to be in place at all levels of the health sector, from basic research to the resources used to train healthcare professionals. It is essential to make manikins diverse and implement policies that address gender bias in the health sector.
FAQs
1. Does CPR save lives?
Yes, CPR saves lives. Commencing CPR immediately after a cardiac arrest occurs can double, triple, or even quadruple survival chances.
2. Can I be sued for performing CPR on a bystander?
Heavily unlikely. In most nations, “Good Samaritan” laws legally protect bystanders who seek to help out in a medical emergency, even if the efforts are not exactly ideal or perfect.
3. Is CPR enough to resuscitate a cardiac arrest patient?
While CPR is sufficient for a start, it is important that the patient be attended to by qualified health professionals as soon as possible who may do things like institute oxygen therapy and attempt cardioversion.
References
Munot, S., Bray, J. E., Redfern, J., Bauman, A., Marschner, S., Semsarian, C., Denniss, A. R., Coggins, A., Middleton, P. M., Jennings, G., Angell, B., Kumar, S., Kovoor, P., Vukasovic, M., Bendall, J. C., Evens, T., & Chow, C. K. (2024). Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation differences by sex – The role of arrest recognition. Resuscitation, 199, 110224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2024.110224
Perman, S. M., Shelton, S. K., Knoepke, C., Rappaport, K., Matlock, D. D., Adelgais, K., Havranek, E. P., & Daugherty, S. L. (2019). Public Perceptions on Why Women Receive Less Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Than Men in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Circulation, 139(8), 1060–1068. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.037692
Szabo, R. A., Forrest, K., Morley, P., Barwick, S., Bajaj, K., Britt, K., Yong, S. A., Park-Ross, J., Story, D., & Stokes-Parish, J. (2024). CPR training as a gender and rights-based healthcare issue. Health Promotion International, 39(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae156
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