In America, minorities too often receive the short end of the stick when it comes to housing, employment, and health care — and the disparities only seem to be growing. Discrimination is simply part of daily life for a person of color in this country. Still, it comes as a bit of a shock that even in an emergency, life is notably harder for those of us with more melanin. A recent study has found that bystanders are more likely to give CPR to a white person who clearly needs it.
The study, done by the American College of Cardiology, found that Black and Hispanic people who experience a cardiac arrest (when the heart suddenly stops beating) at home or in public are significantly less likely than white people to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, from a bystander. Researchers looked at over 100,000 cardiac arrests in the United States between 2013 and 2019 that occurred outside of a hospital but were witnessed by a bystander. The study found that when a cardiac arrest occurred in public, 60% of white people received CPR, only 46% of Black and Hispanic people received the same treatment.
