Female CPR manikin to help 'save more women'

A fire service is using a bespoke female CPR manikin to help "reduce hesitation in people delivering emergency care to women".

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service's prevention team hopes the new equipment will help "save lives".

It will also offer training to show how to deliver chest compressions and where to correctly place defibrillator pads on breasts, as well as how to cut off bras.

Michelle Bates, a fire youth engagement officer, said: "Feeling uncomfortable about removing a bra should never be a barrier to saving someone's life."

The manikin was bought with a £300 grant from the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone's Safe and Sound Communities Fund.

The fire service said research from St John Ambulance showed that a third of British people were "afraid to give CPR to a woman because they are worried about touching breasts".

By introducing a female CPR manikin into its programmes, the team wants "to remove hesitation and ensure people feel confident responding quickly and appropriately in a real‑life emergency".

Bates said: "By using a female manikin to teach CPR, we hope to build confidence, reduce hesitation, and ensure people are prepared to remove clothing and apply defibrillator pads correctly, helping to save more women."

Labour's Stone said: "I hope that the manikin can empower people to be confident in treating women and help to save lives."

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