Cardiac Science Gets Canadian Approval to Market Defibrillator

Cardiac Science, a manufacturer of public-access defibrillators (AEDs), has been granted approval by the Canadian Regulatory Agency, Health Canada Therapeutic Products Directorate, to begin marketing its patented fully automatic Powerheart public-access AED in Canada.

The Powerheart G3-Automatic, approved for sale in the U.S. in 2004, is the first fully automatic AED in the Powerheart product line and is designed specifically for use in public places, workplace settings and in-home use by consumers, the company said.

To use the G3-Automatic, a rescuer need only listen to the Powerheart's detailed voice instructions explaining how to attach the device to the heart attack victim. There are no buttons to push or additional action required since the Powerheart analyzes the patient's condition to detect a life-threatening heart rhythm and, if appropriate, automatically delivers a potentially lifesaving defibrillation shock to restore the heart to a normal rhythm.