I use female CPR manikins in my first aid courses. Not a
radical innovation, you might think. After all, roughly half the population are
women.
Yet, in most classes, previously qualified CPR and
defibrillator students hesitate.
The culprit?
Boobies and bras.
Suddenly, confident adults are staring at their shoes,
clearing their throats, and wondering whether someone else might like to take
over. People who were perfectly happy discussing cardiac arrest, death,
electricity and broken ribs are now negotiating with a bra.
It’s funny – until you remember that in a real cardiac
arrest, hesitation costs lives.
There’s more reluctance to approach, CPR is slower to start,
chest compression quality is lower through poor hand positioning, and there is
often indecision over defibrillator pad placement and whether it is safe to
shock someone wearing an underwire bra. All of these delays show up in the
classroom. Can you imagine the impact in real life?
Research has found that women are around 25% less likely
than men to receive bystander CPR in public. Every minute without CPR reduces
the chance of survival by approximately 10%.
The heart has stopped. This is not the moment to become
Victorian.
For decades, most first aid equipment, testing and training
have been based around male bodies. As more realistic female manikins appear in
training centres, we’re discovering that embarrassment is costing women their
lives. The grim reaper has entered the chat—it’s time we stopped negotiating
with lingerie.
In an ideal world, the bra comes off and defibrillator pads
are placed directly onto bare skin. In the real world, I don’t want anyone
delaying CPR or that first lifesaving shock while wrestling with an underwire.
Get the pads on, deliver the shock, and keep high-quality CPR going. The bra
can be faffed with afterwards.
The reality is simple: these are clinical decisions, not
social ones.
So perhaps it’s time we all became a little less frightened
of bras and a little more confident about saving lives.
Graphic credit to Life Saving Training