Key Takeaways

The AHAsurveyed 520 non-healthcare providers. All participants were over the age of 18 and were able to correctly define CPR. The survey asked respondents to rank the following five main themes identified in previous research and apply them to various potential cardiac arrest scenarios:

Survey results found that men were most likely to refrain from performing CPR in public for fear of being accused of sexual assault or touching a woman inappropriately. On the other hand, women feared that they might cause physical injury or harm to a cardiac arrest victim. Both genders perceived that cardiac arrest occurs primarily in males or that women may act more dramatically than men in medical crises.

New CPR Guidelines Address Recovery Needs of Cardiac Arrest Survivors

Heart Disease Is a Serious Health Issue for Women

Heart disease is the most common cause of mortality for women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), accounting for 1 in 5 female deaths.

Gender stereotypes continue to be a barrier to women receiving the cardiac care they need, saysNicole Harkin, MD, board-certified cardiologist and founder ofWhole Heart Cardiology.

“There are a lot of concerns that women’s bodies are too frail for CPR, or that they might touch women’s breasts inappropriately on accident,” Harkin says.

Harkin also adds that heart disease impacts both men and women, but “is still considered a male disease.”

“Women are often under-treated or misdiagnosed because there is a misperception that women don’t get heart disease,” Harkin says.

Heart Disease

Why Do Some Hesitate to Provide Assistance?

Evolving views of what constitutes appropriate behavior have changed the way many males chose to interact with females.

Bystander CPR Prevents Death and Improves Outcomes

Immediate, high-quality CPR is crucial to survival and long-term prognosis for both men and women.

“The survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is quite low, unfortunately, and the most critical intervention is CPR,” Harkin says.

Eisele says there is little reason to worry about the legal consequences of providing care to cardiac arrest victims in good faith.

Eisele says it’s important not to overthink whether or not they should perform CPR when someone is in need.

“We want people to perform CPR. We don’t want them thinking, Can I get sued?” he says. “Just because you cannot now touch a woman inappropriately doesn’t mean you will be charged with sexual assault if you give a woman CPR.”

How To Improve Outcomes

Allaying public fears about performing CPR requires widespread education and awareness, including:

What This Means For YouIf you are willing to act, you can save lives. But it’s important to know what you’re doing. To become CPR certified, contact your local hospital or national organizations such as theAmerican Red CrossandAmerican Heart Association. Some certifications are available online.

What This Means For You

If you are willing to act, you can save lives. But it’s important to know what you’re doing. To become CPR certified, contact your local hospital or national organizations such as theAmerican Red CrossandAmerican Heart Association. Some certifications are available online.

3 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Heart Association.Why people fear performing CPR on women - and what to do about It.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Women and heart disease.

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