ZOLL Medical cleared to market defibrillator with WiFi option

Dec 16 2008

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market and sell the ZOLL R Series Code-Ready clinical defibrillator with a WiFi option that allows wireless communication between the defibrillator and standard hospital networks to help ensure code-readiness and download patient data.

Based on standard 802.11b WiFi technology, R Series defibrillators equipped with WiFi automatically send an alert when their state of readiness is compromised. Early notification maximizes patient safety by letting the clinician intervene before the defibrillator is needed for a code.

While defibrillators rarely fail, their readiness can be compromised if someone forgets to plug it in, a cable is missing, or the electrodes are old and dried out. With WiFi, when the state of readiness is compromised, a notification identifies the contributing factors and code readiness can be restored with unmatched efficiency by troubleshooting from any PC on the hospital network.

For downloading patient data, the Defibrillator Summary is an important part of the code, and the R Series WiFi capability simplifies merging the Summary Report with event documentation. At the end of the code, the summary report can be transmitted over a standard wireless network to a server hosting the CodeNet ® system, where it is merged and time-synchronized with the Event Report documented on CodeNet Writer.

“Since defibrillators are widely distributed throughout hospitals, and their use is both infrequent and extremely critical, ZOLL's technology helps ensure code readiness when they are needed for a code,” said Richard A. Packer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ZOLL. “Introducing technology that helps clinicians save more lives is what ZOLL is about.”

ZOLL R Series: Simple, Smart, Ready

The R Series is a Code-Ready device that is simple, smart, and ready to use. It offers a OneStep ™ system to simplify and speed up deployment of pacing and defibrillation therapy. It also offers smart tools to help clinicians improve CPR performance, which is important since more than half of in-hospital codes involve non-shockable rhythms and, in such cases, the only treatment is high-quality CPR with minimal interruptions.

The R Series can also verify the condition and expiration date of the electrode set. All of this testing occurs without disconnecting electrodes or paddles, or requiring additional equipment to test shock delivery. The system provides a printed or electronic log to alert hospital personnel of any concerns in advance of a code. A simple green checkmark indicates that the R Series is fully ready for use.

CodeNet: Efficient Patient Data Capture

CodeNet is the first software system that allows hospital teams to better document, manage, and review cardiac arrest event and resuscitation information. It brings new improvements and efficiencies in data capture, event time synchronization, and case and aggregate reporting. It is the only system that time stamps logged events and synchronizes these times with defibrillator data, providing clinicians with a complete and accurate timeline of an entire cardiac arrest event.

With a simple click of a mouse, CodeNet system users can submit records to the American Heart Association's NRCPR (National Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation).

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, ventilation, 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. 2008 marks the 25th anniversary of ZOLL'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 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on December 8, 2008. 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 © 2008 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. 269 Mill Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824-4105. ZOLL, CodeNet, Code-Ready, R Series, Real CPR Help, and See-Thru CPR are registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation. One-Step is a trademark of ZOLL Medical Corporation. All product names are the property of their respective owners.