Ambulance service calls women ‘people with breasts'

Yahoo

11-03-2025

St John Ambulance has been accused of 'erasing women' after issuing guidance on how to perform CPR on 'people with breasts'.
Its web page stated it aimed to address the fact that 'people with breasts are statistically less likely to receive bystander CPR than men'.
However, gender critical campaigners said a failure to use the word 'women' in the guide was 'an unfortunate example of misogyny' in 'a life or death situation'.
The first aid charity is the latest organisation to come under fire for using 'gender neutral language' in an effort to be more inclusive of transgender people.
The guide, which also explains how to use a defibrillator, also advises readers they should 'remove bras or binding' if the casualty is wearing one, in order to reach their bare chest.
'Binders' are a form of underwear usually worn by transgender men in order to temporarily flatten breasts and create a more masculine appearance.
Attention to the web page was drawn by campaign group Women's Rights Network (WRN) – which posted a screenshot of its title on X.
'Immediate medical treatment is required for @stjohnambulance,' the post read.
'They've developed chronic amnesia and forgotten the word for half the population.
'Those 'people with breasts' are women. They have no problem with saying 'men' so why don't we merit the same respect?'
The post provoked a series of angry responses, including from those who described the guide as 'insulting', with some pointing out the 'double standards' of referring to 'men' in the same headline.
Cathay Larkman, one of WRN's directors, told The Telegraph: 'From our point of view, this is just another example of misogyny.
'If St John Ambulance are referring to women, then they need to say 'women'.
'Clear message is extremely important when it comes to health and in the case of CPR, it's potentially a life or death situation.'
Ms Larkman added: 'It's another incident of erasing women.'
Some commenting on the X post pointed out that St John Ambulance had run a campaign which aimed to tackle gender disparity in CPR.
In a separate web page, it cited research that showed 'a third of Brits are afraid to give CPR to a woman because they are worried about touching breasts'.
The text then continued to refer to 'women' throughout.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of charity Sex Matters, said: 'It beggars belief that some of the worst offenders when it comes to butchering factual, sex-based language are medical organisations.'
She added: 'Like many organisations, St John Ambulance never used to have a problem calling women what they are until activists began to insist that this was offensive. To claw back credibility, St John Ambulance should revoke this guidance and reissue it using factual and commonly understood language.'
A St John Ambulance spokesperson said: 'According to research women are less likely than men to receive lifesaving CPR in public because people are afraid to touch breasts. For International Women's Day this week we revisited our CPR Bra campaign that focused on saving more women's lives to remind people of the first aid steps to improve the women's chances of survival.
'This reluctance to give CPR affects every 'body' with breasts and the CPR guidance on our web pages seeks to convey this important message. We have reviewed the title of the CPR guidance on our website and are improving the wording to ensure it reflects everybody St John seeks to help.'
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