Racism and emergency intervention

firetender

firetender

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CPR less likely for minorities on street or home

People who collapse from cardiac arrest in poor black neighborhoods are half as likely to get CPR from family members at home or bystanders on the street as those in better-off white neighborhoods, according to a study that found the reasons go beyond race...

The study looked at data on more than 14,000 people in 29 U.S. cities. It's one of the largest to show how race, income and other neighborhood characteristics combine to affect someone's willingness to offer heart-reviving help.
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Since so many of us are averse to jumping in and handling things like this on the streets off-duty, now I have to wonder if you have ever stepped in for a Caucasian and not for a person of color or poverty?

Is there any difference in the degree that you allow yourself to have physical contact with different races or socio-economic groups?

This applies to those of you of color as well regarding other races.
 
The researchers said it had more to do with socio-economic status and lack of knowledge of CPR than racism.

[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]The researchers also found that regardless of a neighborhood's racial makeup, CPR was less likely to be offered in poor areas. That shows that socio-economic status makes more difference than the neighborhood's racial makeup, said lead author Dr. Comilla Sasson, of the University of Colorado in Denver.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]About 80 percent of the cardiac arrest victims in the study had collapsed in their own homes. That suggests lack of knowledge about how to do CPR. [/FONT]
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It is true that 80% of the cardiac arrests studied happen at home, yet, overall, the stricken are 30% LESS likely to recieve CPR AND that happens more in poorer neighborhoods than mixed by color or economics.

Is it ALL about the educational level of those in the area, is it that people of color and poverty are not being OFFERED CPR training?

I can't help but wonder, having witnessed -- even amongst my working peers -- a, let's say, difference in drive and meticulousness when it came to rendering care in poorer neighborhoods, which, coincidentally are usually filled with people of color.

So, bottom line, how much of this is a form of subtle racism? That's what I wonder because I don't buy into the idea that Blacks and Hispanics just aren't interested in learning CPR or offering it to each other..
 
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firetender said:
Is it ALL about the educational level of those in the area, is it that people of color and poverty are not being OFFERED CPR training?
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as someone who works in a heavily non-white heavily poverty area, I can honestly say that CPR courses are offered to whomever signs ups, pays for the course and attends. I can also attest that even if you don't know CPR, if you call 911 in the city that I work (and the same should be true for the entire state), the dispatcher will GIVE YOU STEP BY STEP directions on how to do CPR. All the caller needs to do is listen to what they are told.
firetender said:
That's what I wonder because I don't buy into the idea that Blacks and Hispanics just aren't interested in learning CPR or offering it to each other..
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fair enough.... out of all the CPR classes you have taught, which races has the most attendees? and which race have you seen shows up for their renewals?
 
Hey, I'm British...but I will gladly help out ANY American :rofl:
 
firetender said:
So, bottom line, how much of this is a form of subtle racism? That's what I wonder because I don't buy into the idea that Blacks and Hispanics just aren't interested in learning CPR or offering it to each other.
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As other posters and the authors themselves have pointed out, the racial disparities are likely because of the association of race and socioeconomic status (SES) in this country. One of Klinenberg's points from Heat Wave (yes, that book again, sorry, I'll read some Paul Farmer soon) is applicable here: a lot of preventive and health promotion services are based on the idea of the public as informed consumer of health goods. That model favors people who are already informed and empowered, i.e. people with relatively high SES. On top of that, the time and attention of people with low SES is generally overtaxed, and CPR is rightly a fairly low priority. And on top of that, CPR education in this group is going to require funding; many people can't shell out $15 for a class they might never use just to feel good.

Klinenberg also points out that poor and failing neighborhoods tend not to have much of a street life and people become isolated and suspicious, which might affect the rate at which CPR is witnessed and the willingness of bystanders to intervene.
 
MrConspiracy said:
As other posters and the authors themselves have pointed out, the racial disparities are likely because of the association of race and socioeconomic status (SES) in this country. One of Klinenberg's points from Heat Wave (yes, that book again, sorry, I'll read some Paul Farmer soon) is applicable here: a lot of preventive and health promotion services are based on the idea of the public as informed consumer of health goods. That model favors people who are already informed and empowered, i.e. people with relatively high SES. On top of that, the time and attention of people with low SES is generally overtaxed, and CPR is rightly a fairly low priority. And on top of that, CPR education in this group is going to require funding; many people can't shell out $15 for a class they might never use just to feel good.

Klinenberg also points out that poor and failing neighborhoods tend not to have much of a street life and people become isolated and suspicious, which might affect the rate at which CPR is witnessed and the willingness of bystanders to intervene.
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I'm pretty sure CPR is taught in Fitness class in high school and its a requirement to graduate, @ least in Michigan.
 
DrParasite said:
I can also attest that even if you don't know CPR, if you call 911 in the city that I work (and the same should be true for the entire state), the dispatcher will GIVE YOU STEP BY STEP directions on how to do CPR. All the caller needs to do is listen to what they are told.?
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Almost everywhere in the US this is the case if an agency uses EMD instructions. Every caller gets uniformed step by step instructions. Many callers refuse CPR, and we still give them instructions. My experiences in giving instructions mirror the results of the study.
 
I would never allow a patient's race to alter care for them, or just basic kindness.

And if you want to talk about personal experience, my racial "minority" patients are far more polite and well mannered than my racial "majority" patients act like they are better than everyone else... and I'm part of the "majority"!!
 
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Skipping charges that whites don't help non-whites a'la after hurricane Katrina

Culture and upbringing determine whether or not someone will respond to a "man down" as a Good Samaritan. Folks with less education and from a culture where families and sometimes churches take care of thier own are reticent to jump in and start resuscitation. Ditto for folks who have an upbringing to keep your head down and mind your own business.

I always ask my CPR classes (mostly urban) how many are here for a job, how many are here just to know it, how many have done it. In two years of classes I have had one person of color (other than mine) say they had done CPR, and less than five taking the course just to know how. The only folks of lower middle class or lower I have taught outside a CPR SUnday event are seeking the card for home health aide certification; it isn't cheap (anymore).

The FEARS (contagion, failure, liability, looking silly, getting in trouble with the authorites for bothering them) that constrain people from performing good samaritan* acts are magnified if you come from a culture that doesn't value it and especially if it is ignorant or discards teaching dispelling those five fails. (Or, those of us who DO things like CPR on strangers are aberrant busybodies and need to keep our selves to ourselves. It's relative).

Look at literature addressing how to boost volunteerism amongst communities with background different than western eurpoean/Christian/middle class and you will see observations that bystander help is uncommon in many venues.


* A Christian biblical reference; can anyne please get me a non-Christian parallel for my classes?
 
Mycrofft, you hit the nail on the head. It has very little to do with ethnic background and more with culture. Economic culture, regional, neighborhood, educational, familial, and individual.

You give me a race that won't perform CPR, and I can give you an instance where an individual(s) of the same race did or would.

The first domino that usually falls is "choice".
 
I think it hilarious to see everyone being PC here. Everyone is afraid to say Black or White or Mexican or Asian or whatever other race, in fear of offending them.
 
Imacho said:
I think it hilarious to see everyone being PC here. Everyone is afraid to say Black or White or Mexican or Asian or whatever other race, in fear of offending them.
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I disagree. I believe this thread is about culture and not about race. It's about cultures and the choice they make between wanting to do things like CPR and not wanting to do CPR. One's DNA factors less than you might think, IMHO.
 
Imacho said:
I think it hilarious to see everyone being PC here. Everyone is afraid to say Black or White or Mexican or Asian or whatever other race, in fear of offending them.
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Good observation, even if I'm not afraid as you say. (After all, this is a nom de internet, right?).

Every time I thought about something on a national basis, I found exceptions, and inclusions. It sounds like "*****footing" but it is a fine balance between being too exclusive, or too inlcusive.

And I am not saying they are wrong. It's relative. I bet almost* any one of us would rather a stranger at least try to save our kid or signifcant ther, but we all have some sort of configuration of our capablity and attitude based on folkways and education we have grown up in. Altruism has been a popular subject for study lately, and in danger situations people with less altruism tend to be the survivors, so ther are arguments both ways.

OP, was this thread supposed to be about preferential treatment by racists on the basis of racial bias? IF so, I'm sorry, and thanks to IMACHO for dragging it back



*I can think of some exceptions, but I'm having too good a morning to spoil it. IM's answered on request.
 
Someone mentioned somewhere about if we have ever stopped to help someone off duty and if it would be different based on race.

Not race, per se, but I can see how SES factors into it. I'll stop in better parts of town, but not in parts that are more dangerous (if I stop at all, I generally don't "in town" because average response time is under 3 minutes so there's nothing I can usually do). Also, idk if this is true or not, but I was once taught somewhere that studies showed that people in lower SES areas are almost twice as likely to sue EMS providers than those in higher SES areas. I wish I had the study to verify that, but it does make sense to a certain degree...
 
"ses"?
 
Got it.
 
Nope, it was about how some folks as a category do not render aid to one another.

I'm forwarding the article link to my bosses.
 
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