CPR Statistics For Women
Today is Mother's Day, and we are focusing on CPR statistics specific to women. According to the American Heart Association, more than 350,000 heart attacks occur in the United States each year (Virani et al., 2020). While most of these incidents take place at home, approximately 19% of heart attacks in adults and 13% in children happen in public settings. (Williamson, 2020) The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest decrease by 10% for each minute that passes without treatment, making early bystander CPR crucial. Early bystander CPR more than doubles the chance of survival (American Red Cross Training Services, n.d.).
With 22% of all sudden cardiac arrests happening in public, survival rates are often dictated by a stranger's willingness to help. A 2018 study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes found that 45% of men received bystander CPR, compared to only 39% of women. This form of implicit bias gave men a 23% higher chance of survival than women.
A survey was conducted with 520 men and women to understand the reasons behind their hesitance to perform CPR on women in public. Both genders cited that the primary reason for their reluctance is the fear of being accused of sexual assault or inappropriate touching. The second most common concern was the fear of causing harm to the patient.
While we teach in our classes the difference between breaking bones and breaking cartilage, we can see from these statistics that the public remains misinformed and undereducated about CPR. Theses studies are being used to help 911 dispatchers assist the public in administering public CPR and combating callers' fears.
References
American Red Cross Training Services. (n.d.). CPR Facts & Statistics | Red Cross. Red Cross. https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/resources/articles/cpr-facts-and-statistics?srsltid=AfmBOooetLmldgeF1V0XoMv0jnXhQu937nTj0iYBvuigxl2RkG6gOG_n
Virani, S. S., Alonso, A., Benjamin, E. J., Bittencourt, M. S., Callaway, C. W., Carson, A. P., Chamberlain, A. M., Chang, A. R., Cheng, S., Delling, F. N., Djousse, L., Elkind, M. S., Ferguson, J. F., Fornage, M., Khan, S. S., Kissela, B. M., Knutson, K. L., Kwan, T. W., Lackland, D. T., . . . Tsao, C. W. (2020). Heart disease and stroke statistics—2020 Update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 141(9). https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000000757
Williamson, L. (2020, November 23). Why people fear performing CPR on women – and what to do about it. American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/11/23/why-people-fear-performing-cpr-on-women-and-what-to-do-about-it#:~:text=A%202018%20study%20published%20in,in%20public%2C%22%20Shelton%20said.