YAS Charity funds female manikins for CPR training

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service Charity (YAS Charity) has joined forces with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to close the gender gap on cardiac arrest survival.   

Research* has shown that a third of the British public are afraid to give CPR to a woman because they are worried about touching breasts. The same survey found that 38% of Britons said they would feel uncomfortable using a defibrillator on a woman, as its pads need to be placed on bare skin in the chest area, requiring the removal of a woman’s bra.

By introducing female manikins to our CPR training sessions, we aim to increase awareness and remove the stigma, enabling people to feel comfortable to act in the first vital moments following a cardiac arrest when every second counts. 

Over 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest out of hospital in the UK every year. The earlier a patient can receive CPR and a shock from a defibrillator, the greater their chance of survival. 

The female manikins were used in last Friday’s Restart a Heart Day, when over 800 off-duty staff and volunteers from YAS visited more than 160 secondary schools across the region to train 35,000 students in CPR.

And now the manikins will be further utilised by the Trust’s Community Engagement team and volunteers who deliver thousands of CPR training sessions to people of all ages across the region each year. 

Community Engagement Officer Sasha Bipin said: “In my work with a range of diverse groups, including some that are predominantly male, I am often asked whether performing CPR on a woman differs from performing CPR on a man. Participants frequently raise concerns about maintaining a casualty’s dignity when carrying out chest compressions or using a defibrillator, with some worried that they could get into trouble for assisting a female.

“Similar questions have also been raised in groups made up mainly of women, particularly around whether CPR can be performed effectively on a female casualty. Having a female manikin helps to address these concerns, build confidence and ensure participants feel better prepared to provide lifesaving support to anyone who needs it.”

Head of YAS Charity Carey Taylor added: “It’s a very sad fact that women are less likely to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation than men. By funding the provision of female manikins during training sessions, the YAS Charity aims to change perceptions and give people the reassurance to know that acting fast is the right thing to do to save a life regardless of gender.”

Latest figures show that a cardiac arrest patient in Yorkshire is nearly twice as likely to survive if a bystander steps in to perform CPR.

Last year, bystanders intervened in 1,972 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests across the region. Their immediate actions successfully contributed to restarting 643 hearts on the scene, leading to 132 long-term survivors (6.7%). By contrast, out of 892 cardiac arrests where no bystander CPR was provided intervened, 33 people (3.7%) survived past 30 days post-hospital discharge**.   

Currently in the UK, less than one (8.6%) in ten people survive a cardiac arrest.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service invites everyone to learn CPR by watching this video which is available on the Restart a Heart website under CPR training resources.  

*Research by St John Ambulance - https://www.sja.org.uk/press-centre/st-john-launches-cprbra-campaign-to-tackle-gender-disparity-in-cpr/

**Figures cover out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) recorded across Yorkshire in 2025. Bystander intervention includes CPR performed by members of the public, off-duty emergency personnel, and community first responders prior to primary ambulance arrival.