Partnership’s First Sale Provides 292 AEDs to Texas Public High Schools
BOTHELL, WA and HANOVER PARK, IL - Cardiac Science Corporation [Nasdaq: CSCX], a global leader in advanced cardiac monitoring and external defibrillation products, and School Health Corporation, the leading provider of medical supplies and equipment to school nurses, athletic trainers, and other specialty healthcare professionals in the U.S. education market, announced today an agreement under which School Health will sell and distribute Cardiac Science’s Powerheart® AEDs to schools and school districts in the United States.
The two companies also announced today that the Texas Association of School Boards’ (TASB) Risk Management Fund has purchased 292 Powerheart G3 Automatic AEDs and will provide them to a select group of school districts in Texas.
“School Health provides medical supplies and equipment to more than 60,000 customers nationwide,” said Garry Norris, Cardiac Science’s vice president of marketing. “This partnership is an important step towards Cardiac Science’s goal to play a leading role in securing heart health in school districts across the country. We are delighted to work with School Health to make AEDs more broadly accessible to coaches, trainers, teachers and the students and families they serve. Given the tragic incidents in Texas earlier this year, we applaud TASB’s initiative to ensure that the lifesaving benefits of AEDs are available in schools across the state.”
Following the deaths of four Texas high school students from sudden cardiac arrest earlier this year, Texas’ University Interscholastic League (UIL) has mandated that all public high schools with UIL membership obtain at least one AED for their campuses and athletic events. With this AED purchase, TASB aims to help certain schools acquire their AEDs before the 2007-2008 academic year, as required by the mandate.
“Sudden cardiac arrest should be a concern to any institution that hosts large numbers of people, and clearly, our schools are not free of this concern,” said Rob Rogers, School Health’s chief operating officer. “As a leader in introducing new medical technologies to schools, School Health has been distributing AEDs since 1999. We are impressed by the Powerheart’s reliability and ease of use and look forward to growing our partnership with Cardiac Science. By putting Powerheart AEDs in the hands of more nurses and trainers, we hope to diminish the surprising number of school-age victims of cardiac arrest and provide a more heart safe environment for all people who enter our nation’s school buildings.”
About The TASB Risk Management Fund
The TASB Risk Management Fund is the largest risk sharing pool for school districts and the fifth largest public entity risk pool in the nation. Created in 1974, the Fund provides comprehensive risk management coverage and services in the areas of workers’ compensation, property/casualty, unemployment compensation, and loss prevention.
About School Health Corporation
Headquartered in Hanover Park, Ill., School Health Corporation is the leading provider of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for schools. Its comprehensive turnkey AED solutions encompass not only equipment, but also site assessments, staff and student training, emergency response planning, and ongoing quality monitoring. Dedicated to saving lives, School Health works closely with its customers to help ensure the availability of optimal care in a cardiac emergency.
About Powerheart
Powerheart brand automated external defibrillators provide reliable, safe, and easy to use cardiac monitoring and defibrillation technology. Powerheart AEDs feature RHYTHMx™ software which detects abnormal heart rhythms, determines whether they are life-threatening, and only delivers a shock when needed. Powerheart AEDs also feature the patented RescueReady® technology, which automatically tests the device on a frequent basis to ensure continued functionality. Powerheart’s STAR® Biphasic Waveform Technology provides levels of escalating energy customized to the patient. Powerheart AEDs are used by hospitals, police and fire departments, as well as many public access facilities including major corporations, public agencies, airlines and airports, arenas, schools, hotels, casinos and consumers. For more information about Powerheart, go to www.powerheart.com.
About Cardiac Science Corporation
Cardiac Science is truly at the heart of saving lives. The Company develops, manufactures, and markets a family of advanced diagnostic and therapeutic cardiology devices and systems, including AEDs, electrocardiographs, stress test systems, Holter monitoring systems, hospital defibrillators, cardiac rehabilitation telemetry systems, patient monitor - defibrillators and cardiology data management systems. Cardiac Science also sells a variety of related products and consumables, and provides a comprehensive portfolio of training, maintenance and support services. The Company is the successor to various entities that have owned and operated cardiology-related businesses that sold products under the trusted brand names Burdick®, Powerheart®, and Quinton®. Cardiac Science is headquartered in Bothell, WA, and also has operations in Lake Forest, California; Deerfield, Wisconsin; Shanghai, China and Manchester, United Kingdom.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” anticipate,” variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. Forward looking statements in this press release include those that infer or imply that our Powerheart AED products will be successful in the marketplace, and will facilitate increased sales of our other products, resulting in increasing revenues and profits. These are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary significantly from the results expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such varying results and other risks are more fully described in the 10-k filed by Cardiac Science Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2005. Cardiac Science Corporation undertakes no duty or obligation to update the information provided herein.