Massachusetts-based medical devices maker ZOLL Medical (ZOLL) recently revealed that football trainers of Breaux Bridge High School located in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, used a ZOLL AED Plus along with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (“CPR”) to save the life of a freshman football player.
The coaches adopted life-saving tactics after noticing the 15-year old boy lying on the ground during a scrimmage. The youth had recently begun his sophomore year in high school.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (“SCA”) is a sudden break in the heart’s function, which leads to a shortage of blood flow to important organs. SCA leads to over 325,000 deaths in the U.S. every year. It is the main cause of unexpected fatality globally and claims victims without any warning. About 95% of SCA victims will die.
According to the chief coach, the boy fell down seconds after leaving the field and was lying with his face on the grass. The basic instinct and training galvanized the head coach and his staff. The coach acknowledged that pre-existing plans and a mock rescue drill, performed only 2-3 weeks ago, were of significant help. The coach added that when the player collapsed, one coach dialed 911, another ran to fetch the AED Plus while a third started CPR.
The AED Plus reportedly performed well. The coaches administered a shock when advised, followed by CPR as per instruction. Following the second shock, the young athlete started to regain consciousness. The paramedics in an ambulance and an Arcadian Air Med team arrived after 10 minutes or so by when the boy was conscious. He was airlifted to Lafayette General Hospital, about a half hour away, where he received treatment prior to his release a week later.
The AED Plus used at the Breaux Bridge High School was donated by the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District of Kiwanis International. The AED project aims to place an AED in each and every school in West Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.
ZOLL provides the AED Plus units at a discount while each club receives funding from local establishments to procure AEDs for the schools. To date, clubs have positioned over 330 AEDs in local schools and at least six lives have been saved.
The AED Plus device provides the “Real CPR Help,” a feedback technology which helps rescuers deliver CPR with real-time visual and audio feedback, guiding them to achieve the proper depth and rate of chest compressions.
ZOLL Medical, in April 2011, began shipping a new version of its AED Plus devices, which is fully compliant with the new American Heart Association (“AHA”) and European Resuscitation Council (“ERC”) guidelines issued in October 2010.
ZOLL Medical develops and markets non-invasive resuscitation devices and related software solutions both in the U.S. and overseas markets.It is a leading player in the global market for external defibrillators, which is worth more than $1 billion. To boost growth, ZOLL Medical is expanding its footprint in the international markets, which contributed roughly 26% of its consolidated revenues for fiscal 2010.
ZOLL Medical is the innovator of a wide range of product features that have become the standard of care in the external defibrillator industry. It remains committed to expanding its product range to sustain growth in this market. ZOLL Medical competes with Physio-Control, a wholly-owned unit of Medtronic (MDT) and Philips (PHG). We currently have a Neutral recommendation on the stock.
