AHA Symposium Stresses Need to Improve Poor Patient Survival from Cardiac Arrest in Hospitals.

Business Editors/Health and Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

NEW ORLEANS--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 14, 2000

Cardiac Science Automatic Defibrillation Technology Promises to

Improve Patient Survival

Cardiac Science Inc. (Nasdaq: DFIB), Tuesday sponsored a symposium for cardiologists attending the 73rd Annual American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions to discuss ways to improve the meager 15 percent survival rate for patients who suffer a cardiac arrest while in the hospital.

The symposium panelists included Ted Borek Jr., vice president, emergency cardiac care programs for the AHA and Dr. Vinay M. Nadkarni, chairperson for emergency cardiovascular care committee of the AHA who were responsible for developing the recently published revised guidelines that call for delivery of a defibrillation shock within 3 minutes after the onset of a hospital cardiac arrest.

"Today, there are significant delays in responding to patients in cardiac arrest in hospitals. These delays result in average response times of five to seven minutes," said panelist Dr. John P. Rudzinski, vice chairman, department of emergency medicine at Rockford Health System, Ill. "Delayed defibrillation can result in patient death, brain damage or a diminished quality of life. For each minute that passes, a patient's chance of survival declines 10 percent. Defibrillation within seconds may reduce patient complications, shorten hospital stays and reduce costs."

Time to first defibrillation is the most critical element in determining patient survival from cardiac arrest. Symposium panelists stated that reducing the time interval to first shock by 1 to 2 minutes does more to improve patient survival than all the cardiac medications, airway interventions, ACLS training and new biphasic defibrillators combined.

Earlier this year Cardiac Science began marketing the Powerheart(R) bedside monitor-defibrillator. Powerheart recognizes life-threatening heart rhythms and delivers defibrillation shocks in as little 10 seconds, and without the aid of hospital staff. Results from a multi-center study, recently published in Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology (PACE Vol. 22; 11/1999; p. 1648-1655), a peer reviewed cardiology journal, concludes the Powerheart potentially represents a means to improved both mortality and morbidity associated with in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Panelist Dr. Thomas A. Mattioni, director of electrophysiology at the Arizona Heart Institute and Hospital added, "Powerheart can be invaluable in helping hospitals comply with the new AHA guidelines. It is as if a cardiac team is standing by the patient bed 24-hours a day, 7-days a week." He went on to report that the Powerheart has already saved patient lives including several at the Arizona Heart Hospital.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest and the Urgency of Response

Sudden cardiac arrest caused by abnormal heart rhythms results in a quivering heart muscle unable to pump blood through the body. Once blood stops circulating, oxygen loss begins to injure the brain and heart, and a person quickly loses consciousness and will die within minutes if not defibrillated. External defibrillation provides a brief, effective shock through the person's chest to the heart, restoring the heart's normal rhythm.

In-Hospital Resuscitation 

While the urgency of response is known to be a critical factor in saving lives, hospital studies have documented delays of five minutes or more before a patient is defibrillated. The American Heart Journal (AM Heart J 137(1): 39-48, 1999) recently published a report of 113 clinical studies that included 26,095 patients.

It revealed that patients who suffered an in-hospital cardiac arrest had a meager survival rate of 15.2 percent. Despite continuous monitoring and ready access to trained personnel and equipment, patients in critical care units who suffer cardiac arrests do not have a better chance of surviving than those who suffer an arrest outside of hospitals.

About Cardiac Science

Cardiac Science develops and markets life-saving external cardiac defibrillator devices and proprietary software that monitor and automatically treat cardiac arrest patients. RHYTHMx ECD(TM) tachyarrhythmia detection and defibrillation software, the company's core proprietary technology platform, has multiple applications including use in external defibrillators, wearable defibrillators and in the standard patient monitors widely used in hospitals throughout the world.

Cardiac Science's global sales network consists of prominent distributors in 41 countries encompassing Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America and North America. The company has an exclusive agreement with Medtronic Physio-Control, a division of Medtronic Inc., the worldwide market leader in external defibrillator products, to distribute the Powerheart in the United States, Canada, and nine European countries. For more information, visit www.cardiacscience.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: The Powerheart's safety and efficacy, its ability to increase survival rates for in-hospital cardiac arrest victims, its ability to improve patient-care and lessen patient debilitation. Cardiac Science cautions that these statements are qualified by various known and unknown factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: future economic, regulatory, and market conditions; future business decisions; market and clinical users' acceptance of new and existing products; impact of competitive products and pricing; and changing market conditions. Information on these and other factors are detailed in the company's Form 10-K for the year ending Dec. 31, 1999 and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Powerheart is a trademark of Cardiac Science Inc.