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Writer's pictureNicholas Shelley

CPR and People of Color (POC)



Equality: The state of being equal, especially in status rights and opportunities


Equitable: Fair and Impartial


Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness (or as I like to say, doing the right thing regardless of whether someone is watching, or cares)


These are all fairly common and simple terms that I feel that everyone can define. However, as we saw in last week’s blog there are some social and psychological issues that prevent us from acting the same way towards all people. Last week we discovered that women did not receive Bystander CPR equally as when compared to men.


This week? This week we discuss inequalities in receiving CPR for people of color (POC).


Why People of Color?


Heart Disease is the leading cause of death for all Americans; however minority groups are often found to be at greater risk than others. Black Americans experience death from heart disease more than frequently than any other ethnic group and early 48% of African American women and 44% of African American men have some form of heart disease.


According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services office of Minority health:


  • - In 2018, African Americans were 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic whites.

  • - Although African American adults are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, they are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have their blood pressure under control.

  • - African American women are 60 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, as compared to non-Hispanic white women.


Black Children and Black Communities


To make the above information more troubling, researchers have found that African American children, living in poor neighborhoods are significantly less likely to receive CPR than white children. I also think that it is important to point out that this section applies to all POC and not just children of color or communities of color, with that being said, this study is specific to children in predominately black neighborhoods of Atlanta.


According to the American Heart Association (AHA) (the initial article here . ):


Investigators at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia examined data from 7,086 children who had non-traumatic cardiac arrests outside a hospital from 2013 to 2017. Overall, 48% of those children received bystander CPR.


Compared to white children, bystander CPR was 41% less likely for black kids, 22% less likely for Hispanics and 6% less likely for other ethnic groups.


Another study found here was also conducted. Initially my own bias (pessimism) made this study moderately difficult to understand and my initial impression was that the researchers were conducting this study in an inappropriate way that may confirm their own bias. However, this study was approved by the institutional review board at Emory University (Atlanta, GA), and appears to have been conducted appropriately. This study is theorizing that due to a lack of education and opportunity (which is attributed to economic inequality), communities of color are less likely to receive Bystander CPR (BCPR) in the event of an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). The methodology and data can be found in the above link.


The conclusion of this study was to provide, “Targeted CPR training for nonwhite, low‐education, and low‐income neighborhoods may increase BCPR and improve pediatric OHCA outcomes.”

  • Torri’ell Norwood with the friend she saved after their car crash, one day after taking a CPR class.

The Take Away


I believe that the issues that are impacting POC when it comes to CPR are no different than the issues we face as Americans every day. There are economic considerations, cultural differences, prejudice, lack of education opportunities, and general lack of interest. Unfortunately, Heart Disease and Cardiac Arrest doesn’t care about any of these issues and when untreated the end result is the same. Therefore it is imperative that life saving training be available to all people.


I think my stance is pretty obvious from the start but let me make my position clear with a quote from Dr. King, “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”. When it comes to cardiac events, color doesn’t matter. EMP2C believes that ALL people should be treated equally and equitably, especially in emergency situations, and that EVERYONE should act with integrity. If you are interested in learning more or registering for a First Aid and/or CPR class, please visit www.emp2c.com/firstaidtraining and help me provide life saving training to all people and all communities.

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