Health Canada approves fully automatic Powerheart G5 AED

Jul 5 2018

Cardiac Science, a leading global manufacturer of potentially life-saving automated external defibrillators (AEDs), announced today that it has been granted approval by the Canadian regulatory agency, Health Canada, to begin marketing its fully automatic Powerheart^® G5 AED in Canada.

The approval represents a milestone for Cardiac Science as the Powerheart G5 is the first AED approved by Health Canada to combine automatic shock delivery, dual-language rescue prompting in both French Canadian and English, variable escalating energy, and rapid shock times.

“We are proud to offer fully automatic Powerheart G5 AEDs to the Canadian market and, more importantly, help lead the fight against sudden cardiac arrest (SCA),” said Dev Kurdikar, Cardiac Science Chief Executive Officer. “Since its launch to the U.S. market in 2015, the fully automatic Powerheart G5 has been our most popular AED for the public-access marketplace where ease-of-use and concise rescue prompting are paramount.”

The fully automatic Powerheart G5 AED enables first-time users and professional rescuers to respond to an SCA incident. Without a shock button to press, rescuers armed with fully automatic AEDs avoid hesitation or delays for therapy since the AED makes the determination when to shock, not the rescuer. This pioneering technology was first developed for public access defibrillators by Cardiac Science. Fully auto functionality, combined with the company’s patented Rescue Ready^® daily self-testing technology and optional Intellisense^™ CPR feedback, are the primary drivers fueling AED deployments.

AED deployments are becoming more widespread because of the growing awareness that SCA deaths can be preventable. SCA, an abrupt loss of heart function that causes blood to stop flowing to the brain and other vital organs and which is characterized by the victim suddenly collapsing, can occur among people of all ages and is often fatal if not treated within minutes of onset. Sadly, SCA continues to leave a deadly imprint on Canada, striking more than 40,000 people a year, according to the Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Over eight in 10 SCA events occur in public places or at the home, yet only one in 10 victims survive an SCA event that happens outside of a hospital. The chance of surviving a cardiac arrest doubles when early CPR is used in combination with an AED in the first few minutes. This is why having an AED present during an SCA event is so critical.