If you saw a woman who needed resuscitation, would you hesitate? Research shows that women are 10% less likely to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in an emergency, especially when cardiac arrest occurs in public settings due to fear of causing injury or appearing inappropriate.
CP-HER is an initiative of the Yamba Surf Life Saving Club, created to challenge and change this inequity.
The program aims to improve confidence, competence, and equality in CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) response throughout the Clarence Valley, ensuring women receive the same chance of survival as men.
"My fellow councillors and I were lucky enough to be joined by Kieran from the Yamba Surf Life Saving Club to learn about the initiative and put our First Aid Training to the test with female anatomical feature manikins," Clarence Valley Mayor Ray Smith said.
"We're often raised to be modest and to look away in certain situations, but in a life‑threatening emergency, those habits must fall away. When CPR or an AED is needed, our focus should be entirely on saving a life.
"Congratulations and thank you to the Yamba Surf Life Saving Club for creating and sharing this important community safety initiative."
The CP-HER initiative works on three key factors – recognise, respond and reframe. It aims to raise awareness of the gender CPR gap through community education, embed inclusive CPR & AED techniques and increase confidence and procedural clarity, and addresses unconscious bias and normalise immediate intervention for all.
Jaywalking carries more legal risk than performing CPR on a woman in public. Don't hesitate to save her life.
