This new dummy brace for CPR with breasts could help save women's lives

Most cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) manikins, on which people learn to do CPR, lack an important element for a significant part of the population: the breasts.

A new product is changing that, with the hope of saving the lives of countless women.

The Womanikin is an attachment with breasts that can go on any CPR mannequin or dummy to help people learn to do CPR on something besides a human torso flat chest.

The product was created by a woman-run advertising agency, JOAN Creative, in response to a study that found that women who suffered a cardiac arrest in public were 27% less likely than men to benefit from CPR. passersby.

Assuming statistics are provided because people are not trained on women's bodies and may be reluctant to touch their breasts during CPR, JOAN Creative contacted the author of the study, Audrey L. Blewer, Ph.D., epidemiologist and resuscitation scientist at Duke University Womanikin.

"We know that a rapid delivery of CPR can double the chances of survival of a cardiac arrest," Blewer told "Good Morning America." "At the end of the day, we need to get more people into CPR."

WoManikin

"Saving a life is simple," she said. "Just dial 911 and push hard and fast to the center of the person's chest."

The Womanikin attachment, which can help people practice the fact that the women's rescue movement is free and can be downloaded via a toolbox available online.

In CPR's instructions on the Womanikin website, her creators write, "Yes, that means you're touching her left breast, do not worry, you could save her life."

WoManikin

Knowing how to perform CPR on a woman in cardiac arrest is of paramount importance because heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), each year more than 320,000 cardiac arrests out of the hospital – when the brain can not pump blood to the brain, lungs, and other organs – occur each year to the states. -United.

JOAN Creative, who launched Womanikin at National CPR Awareness Week, has set a goal of creating an attachment to Womanikin in all CPR training schools in the United States by the end of 2020.

"I'm passionate about finding new ways to get people thinking about CPR, training them in CPR and surviving them," Blewer said. "The more we can ensure that more people are trained in CPR for everyone, the better the results will be."