May 8, 2009 - Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates Increase with AutoPulse

INVESTOR CONTACT:

A. Ernest Whiton
Chief Financial Officer
ZOLL Medical Corporation
+1 (978) 421-9655

MEDIA CONTACT:

Diane Egan
ZOLL Medical Corporation
+1 (978) 421-9637
[email protected]

CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVAL RATES INCREASE TO 47% WITH ZOLL AUTOPULSE IN CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA

Helps Save 52-Year-Old Financial Analyst Stricken While Mowing Lawn

May 8, 2009CHELMSFORD, Mass.—ZOLL Medical Corporation (Nasdaq GS: ZOLL), a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, announced today that in the short span of eight months since the Chula Vista, California Fire Department (CVFD) installed the ZOLL AutoPulse® Non-Invasive Cardiac Support Pump, the department has experienced a 46.7 percent survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).  Prior to installing the devices on its first responder equipment, the department was recording only an 8 percent SCA survival rate.

According to Battalion Chief John Davidson, who heads EMS operations, the AutoPulse has been used about 65 times since it went into service last August. Most recently on March 29, it helped save the life of 52-year-old financial analyst David Krogh, who was stricken with SCA while mowing the lawn.  A physician’s assistant driving by stopped and began CPR. She continued basic life support until the fire department arrived about three minutes later with the AutoPulse, which administered uninterrupted, automatic chest compressions for two minutes. Krogh was then successfully defibrillated and transported to the hospital.    

“I’ve been a paramedic for 26 years and have never seen the number of saves we’ve had since using the AutoPulse,” said Davidson. “With Mr. Krogh, it was one of the quickest codes I’ve witnessed in terms of how quickly we were able to get his pulse and respiration back.” 

“It is difficult for a human provider to replicate the kind of perfusion CVFD has been seeing with the AutoPulse, especially for prolonged periods of time,” Davidson commented.  “We’ve observed people who have been down 20 minutes and appear cold and cyanotic, and soon become pink and warm after using the device.  AutoPulse is safer for our rescuers since they aren’t standing up in the back of an ambulance doing ineffective CPR. We’ve also eliminated most of the interruptions typically encountered in CPR cases, including during transfers, and going down narrow hallways, stairs, or elevators.”

Krogh, who now has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, says he didn’t remember anything when he woke up in the hospital two days later, which is typical of someone who suffers SCA.  Neither he nor his family has a history of cardiac arrest. Medical professionals have been unable to determine why he was stricken with this most often fatal heart failure. 

As soon as he was well enough, Krogh went back to thank his rescuers at CVFD.  He coincidentally is a member of the Chula Vista’s Growth Management Oversight Committee (GMOC), which monitors the city’s fire and emergency response times. “Since GMOC is scheduled to do a top-to-bottom review of its quality of life standards in the coming year, I have a newfound personal insight into the need to update our standards to current best practices, including the acquisition of the new equipment that probably saved my life,” he said. “I’m thankful for the dollars invested on AutoPulse in my city; I want our firefighters to get to emergency scenes fast enough so that other citizens will be as fortunate as I have been.”   

The AutoPulse Non-invasive Cardiac Support Pump is an automated, portable device with an easy-to-use, load-distributing LifeBand® that squeezes the entire chest, improving blood flow to the heart and brain during sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The AutoPulse may offer a significant advantage over manual CPR, moving blood more consistently than human providers. AutoPulse delivers high-quality, uninterrupted chest compressions to maintain myocardial and cerebral perfusion. Additionally, it offers the benefit of freeing up rescuers to focus on other life-saving interventions.

Over 4,000 AutoPulse devices are in use in hospital and emergency service organizations worldwide.

About Sudden Cardiac Arrest

SCA, an abrupt disruption of the heart’s function, which causes a lack of blood flow to vital organs, claims more than 325,000 lives each year in the U.S. It is the leading cause of unexpected death in the world and strikes without warning. Currently, only about 5 percent of victims survive; 95 percent will die from SCA.

About ZOLL Medical Corporation

ZOLL Medical Corporation is committed to developing technologies that help advance the practice of resuscitation. With products for pacing, defibrillation, circulation, and fluid resuscitation, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies, including Real CPR Help® and See-Thru CPR®, that help clinicians, EMS professionals, and lay rescuers resuscitate sudden cardiac arrest or trauma victims. ZOLL also designs and markets software that automates the documentation and management of both clinical and non-clinical information.

ZOLL markets and sells its products in more than 140 countries. The Company has direct operations, distributor networks, and business partners throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia, and Australia. During 2008 ZOLL marked the 25th anniversary of the company’s resuscitation product development. For more information, visit www.zoll.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release, including statements regarding the future business of the Company, and other statements contained herein regarding matters that are not historical facts, are “forward-looking” statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those factors discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company's Quarterly Report on  Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on February 6, 2009. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release, and the Company disavows any obligation to update or supplement those statements in the event of any changes in the facts, circumstances, or expectations that underlie those statements.

Copyright © 2009 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. 269 Mill Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824-4105. ZOLL, AutoPulse, LifeBand, Real CPR Help, and See-Thru CPR are registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation. All product names are the property of their respective owners.