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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the Stayin'-alive!-Stayin'-alive! dept.

Study Suggests Women Less Likely to Get CPR From Bystanders

Women are less likely than men to get CPR from a bystander and more likely to die, a new study suggests, and researchers think reluctance to touch a woman's chest might be one reason.

Only 39 percent of women suffering cardiac arrest in a public place were given CPR versus 45 percent of men, and men were 23 percent more likely to survive, the study found. It involved nearly 20,000 cases around the country and is the first to examine gender differences in receiving heart help from the public versus professional responders.

"It can be kind of daunting thinking about pushing hard and fast on the center of a woman's chest" and some people may fear they are hurting her, said Audrey Blewer, a University of Pennsylvania researcher who led the study. Rescuers also may worry about moving a woman's clothing to get better access, or touching breasts to do CPR, but doing it properly "shouldn't entail that," said another study leader, U Penn's Dr. Benjamin Abella. "You put your hands on the sternum, which is the middle of the chest. In theory, you're touching in between the breasts."

The study was discussed Sunday at an American Heart Association conference in Anaheim.

Get touchy and save women's lives.

Also at Penn Medicine and the American Heart Association. Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Other study mentioned in the AP article: Sexual Activity as a Trigger for Sudden Cardiac Arrest (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2017.09.025) (DX)

Related study: Sex-Based Disparities in Incidence, Treatment, and Outcomes of Cardiac Arrest in the United States, 2003-2012. (DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.116.003704) (DX)


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:36AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:36AM (#597109)

    What kind of company do women keep? Is it safe to say, "Other Women"?

    What kind of company do men keep? Is it safe to say other men?

    When I think of a man in trouble surrounded by other guys, I generally see a question of _which_ of the other men is going to assist. A few might not, but _most_ will try, and maybe fail, before letting someone go unaided. Additionally, I see it happening more in a work setting, possibly more often when someone trained is available to assist.

    When I think of a woman drowning, I think of other women generally not _wanting_ to involve themselves in the situation, being scared, or feeling like they don't know what to do or that they're too weak to accomplish the task, resulting in the patient receiving no help.

    I do see a gender difference, and I see it in the mentality difference. Some women will jump in and help. Women, as a whole, in my experience, are far less likely to jump forward and take the chance in a critical situation than men. This statistic seems to back that up. When combine with the scare that women present for false accusations should a man attempt to help -- see above for a long thread with nearly unanimous agreement -- I'm surprised the difference is not much greater. I suppose there are enough men that someone always jumps in.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Sulla on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:57AM

    by Sulla (5173) on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:57AM (#597132) Journal

    This is a good point. I think there is a problem with a lot of people where they just shut down when in a situation of extreme stress. I was in a situation where my vehicle lost control on an icy road as I was lightly breaking for a stop. Rather than freaking out I had one of those super calm moments where I was able to analyze the situation and react. When fishtailing if you have the space you can accelerate out of the situation (if front wheel drive), you can also just let it happen and allow the spin to lose some of the force. Was red light so no option there and if I allow the spin to happen I would have flipped when I hit the curb. So I fishtailed it away from the curb, toward, then away, getting to the center of the road, and then I just allowed it to happen.

    My wife was paralized and unable to react, I think there are a lot of people who can't react in that kind of situation.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam