Public awareness and bystander response to cardiac arrest reveal a troubling pattern: women are less likely to receive CPR in public settings than men. This disparity has been highlighted in research presented at the European Congress of Emergency Medicine and is based on large-scale data from real-world events. The core finding shows that bystanders provide CPR to roughly half of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, but the likelihood of a rescue attempt differs by gender, with women receiving help at a rate just over half that of men in some contexts.
In a comprehensive analysis drawing on 39,300 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occurred between 2005 and 2015, data were gathered to examine who receives CPR and under what circumstances. The study found that overall, about 54% of victims were aided by a bystander with CPR. When broken down by gender, CPR was attempted in slightly more than half of women’s cases and a bit more than half for men, indicating a consistent gender gap in bystander intervention in emergency situations.
When incidents happened in public spaces, the gaps became more pronounced. CPR was performed on men in about 68% of such cases, while efforts to resuscitate women occurred in roughly 61% of instances. This difference suggests that public perceptions, social norms, and bystander confidence may influence the decision to intervene, particularly in crowded or unfamiliar settings where a quick, decisive response is crucial.
Across the data, researchers noted a trend: being female with a heart emergency was associated with a noticeably lower chance of receiving CPR from a bystander. The study pointed to a relative decrease in resuscitation likelihood that persisted across age groups, with a decline that appeared to grow as age increased. These patterns raise important questions about how to ensure equal and timely intervention for all patients, regardless of gender.
Other findings raised for discussion include potential factors behind the gender gap, such as public hesitation to engage with someone perceived as a stranger, concerns about causing harm, or uncertainty about how to perform chest compressions correctly. It is essential to emphasize that performing CPR can significantly increase survival odds, and even brief, decisive action in the first minutes can be life-saving. Training, public education, and community outreach are critical to reducing hesitancy and boosting confidence across diverse bystander populations. The ongoing conversation about how best to empower everyone to act promptly in emergencies remains a public health priority, particularly in urban environments where public cardiac arrests may occur more frequently. (Data source: Montreal Heart Institute; study period 2005–2015; presented at EUSEM.)