Cardiac Science receives European contract for automated external defibrillator

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Opto Circuits (India) Ltd., Cardiac Science Corporation, a global leader in automated external defibrillator (AED) and diagnostic cardiac monitoring devices, has been awarded a contract to deploy 650 Powerheart® AEDs in Girona, Spain, home to 700,000 Catalonians. With this initiative, Girona becomes the first Spanish city to implement a wide network of defibrillators to protect its citizens against sudden cardiac arrest.

Dipsalut, the Public Health organization of the Girona Council (Organismo de Salud Publica de la Diputacion de Girona), estimates more than 3,000 Catalonians die from sudden cardiac arrest each year. A defibrillating shock administered within one minute after cardiac arrest increases the chance of survival to 90 percent, according to the European Resuscitation Council.

Cardiac Science and a valued partner MC Infortecnica worked together to win the Girona contract, a decision made with input from the Brugada Foundation, the University of Girona Faculty of Medicine and the Emergency Medical System of Catalonia.

"We are pleased to partner with Dipsalut in providing AEDs that will protect the Girona community," says Cardiac Science CEO, Dave Marver. "We believe our fully automatic Powerheart AED G3 Plus is the best technology for any large-scale public access defibrillation (PAD) program."

Dipsalut also ordered 500 "intelligent" AED cabinets. When a cabinet is opened to access an AED, a signal is automatically sent to alert the local emergency medical response team.

Most of the fully automatic Cardiac Science AEDs will be deployed in streets or public squares. Other defibrillators will be used to protect high-risk facilities such as sports centers, train stations, airports and bus stations.