First female CPR dummy created to help save women suffering from cardiac arrest

The product was created after a study found women are 27 per cent less likely than men to receive CPR

Tuesday 04 June 2019 17:23 BST

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First female CPR dummy presented by company to help save womens lives

An advertising agency has created the first-ever attachment designed to convert a standard CPR dummy into a female version.

The product, which has been produced by New York-based creative agency JOAN, was designed following a recent study by Dr Audrey Blewer which found that women suffering from a cardiac arrest in public are 27 per cent less likely than men to receive CPR.

The research determined that this is because people are often unsure how to navigate administering CPR around a woman’s breasts.

As a result, JOAN has created a special attachment, called the WoManikin, for standard dummy models with the hopes of enabling trainees to become accustomed to performing CPR on bodies with breasts.

As well as addressing gender disparities, the advertising agency hopes the dummy and its associated campaign will also help to tackle the unease some men experience when it comes to performing CPR on a woman.

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

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1/10Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Subarachnoid vessels

The runner-up image came from Matt MacGregor Sharp, a PhD student at the University of Southampton. The super-high resolution image shows a normal artery at the surface of a rat’s brain and was taken with a powerful scanning electron microscope. These ‘subarachnoid vessels’ supply blood to the brain and also act like a drain to remove toxic waste products. Matt Macgregor’s team are trying to show that failure to remove waste by these vessels is one of the underlying causes of vascular dementia. The researchers took the image using a technique called ‘freeze fracture’, where tissue or cell samples are frozen and then split apart to reveal the hidden layers within the sample so they can be studied in extreme detail. Sitting above the brown brain tissue, the artery appears blue, and its surrounding layer, the pia mater, is shown in purple.

Matt MacGregor Sharp, University of Southampton, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Explosive beginnings

Winner: Endothelial cells line all blood vessels in the body, forming a barrier between the circulating blood and the vessel wall. They also help to protect blood vessels from damage and release important chemical messengers which help to control blood pressure. The winning researcher, Courtney Williams, is a Masters student and PhD candidate at Leeds University. Her lab are developing new ways to map the growth of new blood vessels within their surrounding landscape in 3D. Understanding the complex secrets of blood vessel formation could be harnessed to boost the regrowth of damaged blood vessels after a heart attack, and halt blood vessel growth when it’s counterproductive.

Courtney Williams, Leeds University, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

A snapshot of platelet production - Reflections of Research Supporters’ Favourite

This image from Abdullah Obaid Khan, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham, won the supporters’ favourite. What look like precious jewels are actually platelets forming within the bone marrow. Platelets are the smallest of our circulating blood cells with a hugely important role in preventing bleeding. However, they also play a role in the formation of clots, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Abdullah Obaid Khan and his team are studying rare bleeding disorders.

Abdullah Obaid Khan, University of Birmingham, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Cardiac collagen web - Shortlist

This colourful image shows the web-like, network of the smallest blood vessels in the heart – the microvessels. Magenta marks the outer collagen layer of the vessels; while orange marks their inner lining and blue the cell nuclei. Dr Neil Dufton, Imperial College London

Dr Neil Dufton, Imperial College London, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Heart to Heart - Shortlist

This piece shows four ventricles (from a mouse) arranged into the shape of the hearts four normal chambers. The researchers have used fluorescent markers to recognise certain proteins and created the image using of hundreds of images assembled together. Dr Elisa Avolio and Dr Zexu Dang, University of Bristol

Dr Elisa Avolio and Dr Zexu Dang, University of Bristol, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Loving artery - Shortlist

This image shows a cross section of an artery and the different layers which make up the artery wall. Affiliate Professor Silvia Lacchini, University of Glasgow

Silvia Lacchini, University of Glasgow, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Oxidative inkblot - Shortlist

This colour explosion shows one of the culprits in cardiovascular disease – an enzyme called NADPH oxidase. The enzyme is considered ‘Janus faced’ because it is important in health, as well as disease. This picture shows the active enzyme in patients who have high blood pressure. Dr Livia de Lucca Camargo, University of Glasgow

Dr Livia de Lucca Camargo, University of Glasgow, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Neon skeleton - Shortlist

This image shows the developing blood vessel system of a two day old zebrafish embryo. The researchers used gene enhancers (the on-off switches of genes) to switch on fluorescent markers in different types of endothelial cells – the important cells which line all blood vessels. All blood vessels switch on the red marker, while the veins also switch on the green marker, resulting in yellow veins and red arteries. Dr Svanhild Nornes, University of Oxford

Dr Svanhild Nornes, University of Oxford, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Calcium reef - Shortlist

This image shows calcium in blood vessel cells from people who have high blood pressure and resembles Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Dr Rheure Alves-Lopes, University of Glasgow

Dr Rheure Alves-Lopes, University of Glasgow, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

Under the skin – best of the British Heart Foundation 2018 image prize

Budding blood vessels - Shortlist

This image shows the growing blood vessels in the mouse retina. In red you can see all the blood vessels and in yellow/green you can see the blood vessels that are actively growing (a process called sprouting). PhD candidate Kira Chouliaras, University of Oxford

Kira Chouliaras, University of Oxford, British Heart Foundation - Reflections of Research

This comes after a 2018 survey by the University of Colorado found that men are twice as likely as women to cite a fear of accusations of inappropriate touching or sexual assault as a reason for not administering the potentially life-saving act.

“At the core of JOAN’s ethos is a deep-rooted commitment to gender equality,“ said Jaime Robinson, JOAN co-founder and chief creative officer.

”When we read about the study and this long-standing problem in the world of CPR, we saw a relatively simple way to help change things.

“CPR manikins are designed to look like human bodies, but they actually represent less than half of our society,” she added.

“The absence of women’s bodies in CPR training results in hesitation from bystanders, which in turn results in women being more likely to die in cardiac arrest. Our hope is that the WoManikin will bridge this gap in education and, ultimately, save many lives.”

JOAN has unveiled the product and launched its campaign to coincide with National CPR Awareness Week, which falls between 1-7 June in the US.

The campaign includes a social media challenge on Instagram that asks women to share video clips of themselves with two hand emojis over their heart, including the hashtag #GiveMeCPR.

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The British Heart Foundation (BHF) states that anyone who witnesses a cardiac arrest should call 999 and start CPR immediately.

You can find out how to perform CPR and watch the BHF’s CPR training video for a step-by-step demonstration here.

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