Turns out people are more reluctant to touch a woman's chest than a man's.
In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Heart Association, over 20,000 cases of cardiac arrest were presented and it was discovered that 39 percent of women who had heart attacks in a public place received CPR, compared to 45 percent of men.
This could have possibly led to the result that men were 23 percent more likely to survive cardiac arrest.
Initially the reseachers could not identify the reason behind the difference in the gender gap. However, when they noticed that there was no difference in the percentages of men and women who received CPR when suffering from cardiac arrest in their home, where the CPR was most likely administered by someone who knew them, the researchers came to a likely conclusion.
Strangers may fear touching unknown women more than they would touching an unknown man, with possible rescuers concerned about touching a woman's breasts or removing her clothes.
Audrey Blewer, a University of Pennsylvania researcher who led the study, said (via
The Verge):
"It can be kind of daunting thinking about pushing hard and fast on the center of a woman’s chest."
Additionally, Benjamin Abella, the author of a similar study at the University of Pennsylvania, stated:
"This is not a time to be squeamish, because it’s a life-and-death situation."
