CPR hero cut off woman's bra to save her life as men warned hesitancy to act is 'costing lives'

Men must not delay performing CPR on women whose hearts have stopped beating, a life-saver has urged.

Peter McLauglin came to the rescue of a female stranger who suffered a cardiac arrest. To deliver the necessary care, he was forced to cut open her bra.

Yet new survey data shows that a significant number of men would pause before administering CPR to a woman in a public space. St John Ambulance has warned that such hesitation is "costing lives".

The study of UK adults, conducted by Censuswide for the charity, revealed three in 10 men would hesitate over concerns they might be accused of inappropriate touching, while 20% expressed fear that bystanders might film them.

Around 40,000 cardiac arrests take place in UK communities each year, with fewer than one in 10 people surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, St John Ambulance said.

"Women are less likely to receive CPR in public and hesitation is costing lives," said St John Ambulance’s medical director, Dr Lynn Thomas.

"Every second counts in a cardiac arrest and doing something is always better than doing nothing. It’s important we don’t shame anyone for hesitating as these fears are real and understandable, but no-one should ever feel afraid to try to save a life."

Mr McLauglin, a volunteer for St John Ambulance, described rescuing a stranger in a public toilet while off duty.

A 45-year-old woman had collapsed at Kingston-upon-Thames Guildhall in south London.

Mr McLauglin began performing CPR while asking for a defibrillator, requesting a pair of scissors to cut through the woman’s bra so the defibrillator pads could be placed in the correct area.

He maintained cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until London Ambulance Service paramedics arrived.

"I didn’t have a choice," he said. “I either cut the bra off to get the defib pads on her or I don’t cut it off and she’s going to be leaving here in a very different situation.

"You can’t hang around waiting for someone else to decide whether or not they feel comfortable about that. If you hesitate, it can be a whole different outcome. The main thing for me was that lady survived."

Mr McLauglin added: "In that situation, you don’t see a man or a woman, you don’t think about gender.

"I’ve been brought up in a very traditional way to treat women with the utmost respect.

"But when a woman collapses in front of you and you need to remove her shirt and cut her bra off to save her life, you just have to put aside any embarrassment it may cause and save a life."

The charity is highlighting the reluctance to act as part of a new awareness drive.

The effort is supported by actor Nikki Sanderson, who has appeared in Hollyoaks and Coronation Street.

She said: "In 2021 my mum had a cardiac arrest, and we had to perform CPR until paramedics arrived. If we’d hesitated, she wouldn’t be here today.

"It’s horrifying that so many people say they are less likely to help a woman in public – especially because they’re afraid about people filming and sharing it online.

"That woman could be someone’s mum, sister or daughter. We need to remove these barriers so we can ‘bust the taboo’ because everyone deserves the same chance of survival."