This Saturday, 8th March is International Women’s Day 2025—an awareness day that has taken place annually since 1911. The theme this year is ‘Accelerate Action’.
To mark the occasion, regional charity Magpas Air Ambulance is teaming up with the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Football Associations to teach the women and girls players and coaches the vital skills of CPR and how to use a defibrillator.
As the official International Women’s Day website states, “At the current rate of progress, it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity, according to data from the World Economic Forum.
“Focusing on the need to Accelerate Action emphasizes the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality. It calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.”
Magpas Air Ambulance is committed to tackling gender disparity through its work. As well as championing women in pre-hospital emergency medicine and providing critical medical care on the frontline, the service has also focused on raising awareness of the gender inequalities around bystander CPR.
In recent years, studies have revealed a worrying picture: In the event of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, women are less likely to receive bystander CPR compared to men.
This discrepancy has been attributed to people not recognising the signs of cardiac arrest in women, an embarrassment of touching women and to fears of causing women harm.
Magpas Air Ambulance, which provides lifesaving care 24/7 from its base in Cambridgeshire, has been teaching the local community CPR and how to use a defibrillator for four years.
On International Women’s Day last year, Magpas Air Ambulance committed to raising awareness of the barriers faced by women when it comes to CPR. Since then, the charity has trained 6,980 people—including working with organisations such as the Cambridge Women’s Health Groups, Cambridge Mosque, John o’Gaunt Golf Club Ladies and Women’s Aid Luton. The CPR trainers also ensure that discussions around providing CPR on women are had in every session.
Magpas Air Ambulance’s Community CPR trainer, Nicola Cooper, explains “An important part of the training I provide is dealing with people’s concerns around touching people who are unable to consent, and I hear this more frequently voiced when it comes to performing CPR on women. We discuss these concerns during our training sessions. I reiterate that at the point CPR is needed, a patient’s heart has stopped beating and CPR is likely to be their only chance of survival... With every second of hesitation, this chance decreases.
“Women in these groups speak up telling us that if they were found in cardiac arrest, they wouldn’t want a rescuer to have any delay or concerns about starting CPR to save them. We also discuss that no one has ever been successfully sued for providing CPR in the UK.”
To mark International Women’s Day and accelerate action in this vital area of gender disparity, Magpas Air Ambulance has teamed up with the local Football Associations in the areas the charity predominantly responds to emergencies in—Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. On Wednesday, 5th March, women’s and girls coaches from Cambridgeshire FA took part in Magpas Air Ambulance’s CPR and defibrillator training. And following International Women’s Day on Monday, 17th March, almost 100 girls in the Bedfordshire FA Talent Centre will also complete the training.
In addition, Magpas Air Ambulance is hosting training sessions for women’s groups at both Cambridge and Bedford universities.
Sally Metcalfe, Football Operations Officer at Cambridgeshire Football Association says, “Cardiac arrests in football are quite common due to the physically intensive lifestyle and the stress of playing the game. Cardiac screening may identify underlying medical conditions, but even with cardiac screening taking place, it still happens. With the lack of confidence and knowledge around providing CPR, particularly on women, Cambridgeshire FA wanted to support Magpas Air Ambulance and equip leaders who are coaching women and girls every day. This will give them the skills needed to act in an emergency, should one arise.”
Marc Di Carlo, Football Development Officer at Bedfordshire Football Association says, “Cardiac issues don’t only affect the elderly and overweight. In football, those most at risk are under 35 and appear healthy. Therefore, it will be a great opportunity for 97 female youth players that attend our weekly Emerging Talent Centre training sessions to get trained in this area and learn how they can support in different scenarios in football and/or in the community.”
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