Women are less likely to receive bystander CPR, compared to Men
Women who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest receive bystander CPR less often than men. Understanding public perceptions of why this occurs is a necessary first step toward equitable application of this potentially life-saving intervention.
There are three major factors as to why Women are less likely to receive bystander CPR:
Concern regarding accusations of sexual assault or harassment
Concern that women are physically weak or fragile and, therefore, could be injured should they receive bystander CPR
Poor recognition by the public that women are in cardiac arrest
How do we as a community fix this?
First, training methods and policy changes that may improve rates of bystander CPR among women. For example, basic life support educational materials could be modified to incorporate data regarding disparities in rates of bystander CPR by sex.
While significant strides are being made to increase the rate of bystander CPR; addressing disparities, cannot be ignored.
Additionally, future educational interventions or public service announcements could be developed to help reduce the fears of sexual assault identified by various national studies.
*According to the American Heart Association
