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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Novelty in the field of emergencies. Marjolijn Rodenburg, a Dutch nurse invented a training dummy with a chest and a bra, to better train in cardiac massage and resuscitation of women.
Practicing CPR on a manikin…that has breasts (like about half the population) may seem harmless or normal. However, this was not possible until now, the norm being an androgynous mannequin, flat at the level of the torso. “It is on this type of dummies that first aid training is done, for example, confirms Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician. This is also the case since Resusci Anne, the first training dummy, designed in 1960, curiously molded on a woman, but whose chest was removed.
However, the “masculine” standard forgets two details that can intervene in an effective cardiac massage: the presence of a more or less voluminous chest and a bra, if the victim is a woman.
Hide that breast… a taboo that plays directly on survival
The initiative has nothing to do with coquetry or a desire for equality. Above all, it concerns women’s chances of survival in the event of a heart attack. According to a study reported by The Independentthe chances of resuscitation in the event of cardiac arrest vary according to the sex of the person: only 68% of women victims of cardiac arrest will be saved against 73% of men.
In question ? A received and false idea according to which women would be less victims of cardiac arrest than men, but also a different apprehension of the body of the victim. “Modesty, the taboo that a woman’s chest can represent for people present during a first aid gesture, can indeed change the vital prognosis of the victim, if the gestures do not start quickly.” confirms Dr Gérald Kierzek. “As such, training on a mannequin with a female body and developing this model would be an excellent initiative” he continues.
Developing resuscitation techniques
In a Linkedin post published in March, Marjolijn Rodenburg therefore publishes “From now on, we will train “with breasts”” and details her work as a first aid instructor.
The objective is threefold:
- Overcome the embarrassment;
- Practice unfastening a bra which is both cumbersome but also dangerous when using an automatic external defibrillator;
- But also adapt his gestures which, if they always act in the middle of the chest, can be different according to the volume of this one.
“The usual models give marks that are no longer the same on the female body” approves Dr. Kierzek “against the current of what is done in society, it is time to “gender” resuscitation training”.