December 17, 2001—Medtronic Physio-Control and LifeLinkMD have announced a package of products and services designed to help organizations and communities reduce the death toll from cardiac arrest at worksites and other gathering places. “LIFEPAK Heart Safe Solutions” combines a user-friendly Medtronic Physio-Control automated external defibrillator (AED) with medical oversight, training, site assessment, and customer services such as a physician hotline and post-event support from LifeLinkMD. Previously, business and public FMs who purchased AEDs usually had to find assistance from individual providers for prescriptions, training, device maintenance, and other services.
An increasing number of “Heart Safe” communities and organizations are rallying to make AEDs easily available. In fact, more than 80,000 of the devices have been deployed in US police cars, commercial airliners, airports, hotels and casinos, sports arenas, high schools, manufacturing plants, and other public places. While emergency medical personnel do their best to arrive quickly at the scene of a sudden cardiac arrest, the average response time to a 9-1-1 call is six to 12 minutes. Survival rates can jump significantly if defibrillation occurs within the first three minutes after sudden cardiac arrest strikes.
For more information about AEDs and the new partnership, visit Medtronic or LifeLinkMD.
