Cardiac Science Announces Additional Hospitals Installing Powerheart(R) Units; First Order for Powerheart CRM
Installations Continue to Increase as Hospitals Seek to Improve Patient Survival and Establish a New Standard of Care for Cardiac Patients
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardiac Science Inc. (Nasdaq: DFIB - news) today announced that a number of new hospitals and medical centers around the nation have recently agreed to deploy Powerheart® bedside monitor defibrillators, effectively setting a new standard of care at each institution by providing immediate response to patients who suffer an in-hospital cardiac arrest.
U.S. hospitals deploying Powerheart include Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami, St. Joseph's Hospital in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Bromenn Regional Medical Center in Bloomington, Illinois and Sutter Roseville Medical Center in Roseville, CA. In addition, the Company received its first Powerheart® Cardiac Rhythm Module(TM) (``CRM'') order from Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, CT. The CRM device was recently cleared to market by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The orders involved an aggregate of 128 Powerheart units, which are being placed in these institutions in exchange for minimum purchase contracts for proprietary disposable monitoring/therapy electrodes that are attached to at-risk patients and which require replacement every 24 hours.
According to a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine [N Engl J Med, 344(17): 1304-13, April 26, 2001] it is estimated that each year well over 350,000 hospital patients in the United States experience a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) caused by abnormal heart rhythms with survival to discharge from the hospital of between 0 and 29 percent. The current approach to in-hospital resuscitation requires intervention by highly trained personnel resulting in significant delays in treatment.
Earlier, The American Heart Association concluded that intervals of no more than three minutes from the onset of lethal abnormal heart rhythms to first defibrillation shock are necessary to achieve the highest survival rates. Powerheart is the only hospital monitor that provides continuous monitoring of a patient's heart rhythm, instantly recognizes a life- threatening rhythm and delivers a shock in as little as 10 seconds without the need to wait for help from a nurse, physician or hospital attendant.
``The Powerheart technology continues to gain traction in hospitals,'' said Raymond W. Cohen, Cardiac Science President and CEO, ``and our direct sales organization continues to build on this momentum and interest in improving the response to sudden cardiac arrest in medical facilities. We continue to be encouraged by the market's growing awareness and acceptance of our technology and expect Powerheart placements to accelerate throughout 2002.
``The medical community is realizing that sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in hospitals,'' continued Cohen, ``and is recognizing that Powerheart is the most effective solution to this problem. When deployed, Powerheart save lives, while mitigating risks, reducing costs and establishing a new standard of care for cardiac patients.''
About Cardiac Science
Cardiac Science develops, manufactures and markets life-saving external cardiac defibrillator devices and proprietary disposable defibrillator electrodes that monitor, automatically detect and treat patients who suffer life-threatening heart rhythms. Powerheart®, the Company's patented hospital bedside defibrillator monitors a patient's heart activity, accurately identifies life-threatening arrhythmias, and immediately administers defibrillation shock(s) within seconds and without human intervention. Cardiac Science's easy-to-use portable Automated External Defibrillators are distinct from the competition and feature patented RescueReady® features, such as one button operation, pre-connected disposable electrode pads and biphasic defibrillation technology. The Company's products are marketed in the United States by its 36-person direct sales force and by prominent independent distributors in 40 countries around the world. To date, Cardiac Science products have saved over 3,000 lives.
For more information please visit www.cardiacscience.com . For investor information please visit www.allencaron.com .
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, the life-saving potential of the Powerheart and its ability to increase survival rates, reduce patient complications, save hospital costs. Cardiac Science cautions that these statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties and are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements and should not be relied upon by investors when making an investment decision. Information on these and other factors is detailed in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2000 and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For further information please contact: Matt Clawson (Investors), matt@allencaron.com, Lynn Johnson (Investors), or Len Hall (Media), len@allencaron.com, all of Allen & Caron Inc, +1-949-474-4300, for Cardiac Science, Inc.; or Michael Gioffredi, VP Sales & Marketing, Cardiac Science, Inc., +1-949-587-0357, mgioffredi@cardiacscience.com
SOURCE: Cardiac Science, Inc.
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