Ninety-five percent of CPR training manikins on the global market are flat-chested, possibly contributing to disproportionate survival outcomes for women after cardiac arrest, according to a study published Nov. 21 in Health Promotional International.
Researchers from New York City-based Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Australia and South Africa analyzed globally available CPR training manikins for sex and chest wall characteristics.
Here are five notes from the study:
- Seventy-two potential suppliers and nine manufacturers were identified by the researchers, resulting in a study of 20 manikins.
- Of the manikins, 40% were categorized as male, 35% were categorized as having no gender and 25% were categorized as female.
- Only one of the 20 manikins had breasts, though one of the male manikins had a breast overlay available.
- The study authors cited research that said women are less likely to receive and less likely to survive CPR after cardiac arrest.
- "Ensuring CPR training manikins are representative of the adult population, men and women, may assist in improving bystander CPR delivery and cardiac arrest survival outcomes for all," the study authors wrote.
Read the full study here.