January 9, 2004—California-based Cardiac Science Inc., a manufacturer of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), recently announced that the states of Arizona, Michigan, Texas, and Wyoming selected the company’s Powerheart-brand AEDs for deployment throughout their rural communities in fire and emergency services vehicles, community facilities, and regional healthcare centers. The four states purchased more than four hundred of the devices, which can be used in public places to restore normal heart rhythms to someone suffering from cardiac arrest. Funding for the AEDs was made available through federal grants provided under the Congressional Rural Access to Emergency Devices Act.
