Don’t Let CPR Training Leave Women Behind
Don’t Let CPR Training Leave Women Behind
The Issue
Teach CPR on Female Bodies, Too
To the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, CPR-certification providers, state education departments, and organizations offering CPR and AED training
The Problem
When a woman’s heart stops, her chance of receiving lifesaving help should not depend on whether her body resembles the manikin used in someone’s CPR class.
Most CPR training is conducted on lean, flat-chested manikins. Although these models are sometimes described as “gender-neutral,” they do not fully prepare trainees to perform CPR or use an automated external defibrillator on someone with breasts. During a real emergency, rescuers may suddenly question where to place their hands, whether clothing must be removed, how to position AED pads, or whether touching and exposing the person’s chest could be considered inappropriate.
In cardiac arrest, there is no time for this uncertainty. According to the American Heart Association, immediate CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. Yet women who collapse in public are consistently less likely than men to receive it.
Women Are Less Likely to Receive CPR
A 2018 study found that only 39% of women who experienced cardiac arrest in public received bystander CPR, compared with 45% of men.
A later study examining more than 309,000 cardiac arrests across 47 states found that women who collapsed in public were approximately 14% less likely than men to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation.
This disparity is not confined to the United States. A 2024 global review examined 58 studies on sex differences in bystander CPR. Thirty-four of those studies found that women were less likely to receive CPR. Researchers have connected this hesitation to fears of exposing a woman’s chest, touching her breasts, causing physical harm, or being accused of inappropriate contact.
Female Anatomy Is Missing From CPR Training
Our training equipment does too little to challenge these fears. Researchers who examined 20 adult CPR manikin models available internationally found that only one had breasts, while one additional model offered a removable breast overlay.
A 2025 review of CPR manikin diversity similarly concluded that training manikins are overwhelmingly White, lean, and male or flat-chested. Among the CPR educational videos examined, only 1% featured a female manikin.
Someone can therefore complete an entire CPR course without ever practicing on a manikin that resembles the chest of roughly half the population. Trainees may know the basic steps of CPR but remain unprepared to locate the compression point on a person with breasts, position AED pads correctly, manage clothing, and overcome fears surrounding physical contact.
If these questions are not addressed during training, rescuers will face them for the first time while someone is dying.
What Inclusive Training Can Change
The exclusion of female anatomy is not merely a matter of representation. It can affect how quickly and confidently people respond.
In a 2026 study involving 220 medical students, participants trained with either a standard manikin or a simulator modified to appear female. Students who used the female-appearing simulator began chest compressions in an average of 33.1 seconds, compared with 39.8 seconds among those using the standard manikin.
The students trained on the female simulator also placed AED pads correctly 64.2% of the time, compared with only 38.5% in the standard-manikin group. They became more confident and less uncomfortable with removing clothing when necessary.
A separate 2026 randomized study involving emergency medical technician students tested a breast attachment placed on an ordinary CPR manikin. Students who trained with the attachment became more willing to initiate CPR, more comfortable with necessary clothing removal, and more confident performing compressions on people with breasts. They also reported less fear of being accused of inappropriate touching.
These studies do not yet prove that breast-inclusive manikins directly increase real-world survival rates. They do, however, show that representative training can reduce hesitation, improve confidence, support more accurate AED placement, and help rescuers begin compressions faster during simulations.
What We Are Demanding
We are calling on CPR-certification organizations, schools, hospitals, workplaces, and community programs to require hands-on practice with a breast-inclusive manikin or anatomically realistic breast attachment in CPR and AED courses.
Every trainee should learn how to locate the correct compression point on someone with breasts, position AED pads properly, manage clothing, protect the patient’s privacy, and respond confidently without allowing embarrassment or fear of inappropriate contact to delay care.
Updated training standards should also prevent flat-chested bodies from being treated as the universal default. New equipment purchases should include manikins representing women, different body sizes, and varied skin tones. Programs that cannot immediately replace their equipment should use breast attachments and provide explicit instruction about the barriers that prevent women from receiving CPR.
These changes should be incorporated into certification requirements and school-based CPR programs by the end of 2027. Training organizations should then evaluate whether the updated instruction improves participants’ confidence, response time, AED placement, and willingness to assist people of all body types.
Why We Must Act
Breast-inclusive manikins are not simply symbols of representation. They are practical training tools designed to prepare rescuers for the people they will encounter in real emergencies.
No one should complete a CPR course without being prepared to save a woman’s life. No woman should be denied immediate help because the people around her were never taught how to respond to her body.
We cannot claim to teach people how to save a human life while repeatedly presenting only one version of the human body. When every second matters, inclusive CPR training is not optional. It is a matter of survival.
Sign the Petition
By signing this petition, we demand CPR training that reflects every person it is intended to protect. Female anatomy must no longer be treated as an exception. Every body deserves an equal chance of survival.
6
The Issue
Teach CPR on Female Bodies, Too
To the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, CPR-certification providers, state education departments, and organizations offering CPR and AED training
The Problem
When a woman’s heart stops, her chance of receiving lifesaving help should not depend on whether her body resembles the manikin used in someone’s CPR class.
Most CPR training is conducted on lean, flat-chested manikins. Although these models are sometimes described as “gender-neutral,” they do not fully prepare trainees to perform CPR or use an automated external defibrillator on someone with breasts. During a real emergency, rescuers may suddenly question where to place their hands, whether clothing must be removed, how to position AED pads, or whether touching and exposing the person’s chest could be considered inappropriate.
In cardiac arrest, there is no time for this uncertainty. According to the American Heart Association, immediate CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. Yet women who collapse in public are consistently less likely than men to receive it.
Women Are Less Likely to Receive CPR
A 2018 study found that only 39% of women who experienced cardiac arrest in public received bystander CPR, compared with 45% of men.
A later study examining more than 309,000 cardiac arrests across 47 states found that women who collapsed in public were approximately 14% less likely than men to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation.
This disparity is not confined to the United States. A 2024 global review examined 58 studies on sex differences in bystander CPR. Thirty-four of those studies found that women were less likely to receive CPR. Researchers have connected this hesitation to fears of exposing a woman’s chest, touching her breasts, causing physical harm, or being accused of inappropriate contact.
Female Anatomy Is Missing From CPR Training
Our training equipment does too little to challenge these fears. Researchers who examined 20 adult CPR manikin models available internationally found that only one had breasts, while one additional model offered a removable breast overlay.
A 2025 review of CPR manikin diversity similarly concluded that training manikins are overwhelmingly White, lean, and male or flat-chested. Among the CPR educational videos examined, only 1% featured a female manikin.
Someone can therefore complete an entire CPR course without ever practicing on a manikin that resembles the chest of roughly half the population. Trainees may know the basic steps of CPR but remain unprepared to locate the compression point on a person with breasts, position AED pads correctly, manage clothing, and overcome fears surrounding physical contact.
If these questions are not addressed during training, rescuers will face them for the first time while someone is dying.
What Inclusive Training Can Change
The exclusion of female anatomy is not merely a matter of representation. It can affect how quickly and confidently people respond.
In a 2026 study involving 220 medical students, participants trained with either a standard manikin or a simulator modified to appear female. Students who used the female-appearing simulator began chest compressions in an average of 33.1 seconds, compared with 39.8 seconds among those using the standard manikin.
The students trained on the female simulator also placed AED pads correctly 64.2% of the time, compared with only 38.5% in the standard-manikin group. They became more confident and less uncomfortable with removing clothing when necessary.
A separate 2026 randomized study involving emergency medical technician students tested a breast attachment placed on an ordinary CPR manikin. Students who trained with the attachment became more willing to initiate CPR, more comfortable with necessary clothing removal, and more confident performing compressions on people with breasts. They also reported less fear of being accused of inappropriate touching.
These studies do not yet prove that breast-inclusive manikins directly increase real-world survival rates. They do, however, show that representative training can reduce hesitation, improve confidence, support more accurate AED placement, and help rescuers begin compressions faster during simulations.
What We Are Demanding
We are calling on CPR-certification organizations, schools, hospitals, workplaces, and community programs to require hands-on practice with a breast-inclusive manikin or anatomically realistic breast attachment in CPR and AED courses.
Every trainee should learn how to locate the correct compression point on someone with breasts, position AED pads properly, manage clothing, protect the patient’s privacy, and respond confidently without allowing embarrassment or fear of inappropriate contact to delay care.
Updated training standards should also prevent flat-chested bodies from being treated as the universal default. New equipment purchases should include manikins representing women, different body sizes, and varied skin tones. Programs that cannot immediately replace their equipment should use breast attachments and provide explicit instruction about the barriers that prevent women from receiving CPR.
These changes should be incorporated into certification requirements and school-based CPR programs by the end of 2027. Training organizations should then evaluate whether the updated instruction improves participants’ confidence, response time, AED placement, and willingness to assist people of all body types.
Why We Must Act
Breast-inclusive manikins are not simply symbols of representation. They are practical training tools designed to prepare rescuers for the people they will encounter in real emergencies.
No one should complete a CPR course without being prepared to save a woman’s life. No woman should be denied immediate help because the people around her were never taught how to respond to her body.
We cannot claim to teach people how to save a human life while repeatedly presenting only one version of the human body. When every second matters, inclusive CPR training is not optional. It is a matter of survival.
Sign the Petition
By signing this petition, we demand CPR training that reflects every person it is intended to protect. Female anatomy must no longer be treated as an exception. Every body deserves an equal chance of survival.
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Petition created on October 12, 2026