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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)
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday November 15 2017, @04:39PM (1 child)
No, you should be aware of the difference between informed consent and implied consent, something which is taught in a modern CPR class.
If a patient is able to respond to you and affirmatively declares you can do it, you have express consent. Informed consent is similar, but it implicates that you shared risks and advantages of what you were going to do. If the patient refuses you do NOTHING, even if it means the person's death.
If a patient needs CPR, they are unconscious. Without a signed legal Do Not Resuscitate order in public or POLST orders in a hospital, an unconscious person automatically gives implied consent. That is, you can assume the patient wants whatever life saving treatments you are trained and qualified to offer.
For a licensed professional, we are aware that without a legally signed DNR order it doesn't matter what anyone else says - once you initiate treatment you must carry through to completion or being relieved by a higher authority of the responsibility (which includes calling a hospital and getting a scene pronouncement if necessary or transport). ("He never wanted CPR" from a spouse isn't good enough.) This includes someone who refused right up until loss of consciousness - which can happen with heart attack deniers.
And I'd be a LOT more circumspect going anyplace in the world. I'd rather be sued than jailed (or worse!) for unlawfully touching a woman - which can happen in MANY countries. Most countries do NOT have Good Samaritan laws. You might get sued, but you have an implied defense so long as you were behaving reasonably.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday November 30 2017, @10:16PM
Oops [gizmodo.com].