As the medical
community continues to fill the vast gap in women’s health, innovators at a New
York based ad agency, Joan Creative, have created a solution to the CPR gender
gap – the Womankin. The Womankin is a neoprene vest with silicone breasts that
can be attached to any CPR dummy. The goal, is that with this vest, gender
disparities in training and performing CPR can be addressed.
Recent research
has found that bystanders are less likely to perform CPR on women than men. In
fact, a 2017 study conducted by epidemiologists at UPenn found that from over
19,000 people experiencing out of hospital cardiac events, only 39% of women
received CPR from bystanders compared to 45% of men. This relates to men having
an odds survival 23% higher than women. For those who continue to be
incredulous, a study in 2018 found that even in virtual reality, study
participants were less likely to perform CPR on women.
So what gives?
Why aren’t people performing CPR on women? While an exact reason would be
impossible to find, researchers have come up with several factors that could be
the culprit. First, experts believe that superficial anatomical differences
(ie, breasts), may lead people to believe that chest compressions must be done
differently on men and women – which is not true at all, and what the Womankin
is here to prove. Bystanders could also be less likely to perform CPR on women
because they are less aware that women experience cardiac arrests –
highlighting another issue that needs to be addressed.
Regardless of
the reason, the Womankin is currently in her pilot phase in 4 training
facilities in Canada, Switzerland and New York. Let’s hope this Womankin is
also a SuperWomankin and kicks this CPR gender disparity into oblivion!
Nishita Saraiya DUCOM 2020
Sources:
- Blewer, A et al. Gender Disparities Among Adult Recipients of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the Public. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality Outcomes. 2018; 11:4710.
- Leary, M et al. Comparing Bystander Response to an Unannounced Cardiac Arrest Based on Victim Gender Using an Immersive Virtual Reality System. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality Outcomes. 2018; 138:196.
- Treisman, Rachel. Meet The Womanikin, The Breasted Vest Working To Close The CPR Gender Gap. NPR. 2019.https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/12/07/782596879/meet-the-womanikin-the-breasted-vest-working-to-close-the-cpr-gender-gap
