NEW HAVEN REGISTER www.nhregister.com THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2005

N.J. contract gives Guilford firm an economic jolt

By Damian J. Triose Register Staff

GUILFORD: State and local police officers in New Jersey will soon be armed with 1,682 lifesaving devices created here, at 753 Boston Post Road. Defibtech LLC has landed a contract to provide that many of it's automated external defibrillators to Lifesaver Inc. of West Caldwell, N.J., a distributor for the state of New Jersey. The deal, signed late last week, is believed to be the largest order by a state government for defibrillators. About a dozen other states also contract with Defibtech for the portable devices, which deliver an electric shock to the heart to reestablish a normal heart rhythm. During cardiac arrest, if a victim is defibrillated within a minute or two, their survival rate is about 90 percent. That figure drops to less than 5 percent after 10 minutes. Private industry and the public sector have been investing more and more in defibrillators as part of improvements to first aid kits, according to Defibtech executives. Since the private company was founded in 1999, it has landed contracts for hundreds of the devices with states ranging from Maine to Arkansas. The devices are also used by Boston?s subway system. Weighing just over four pounds, the defibrillators are made so that anybody can use them. They are self-testing and measure whether cardiac arrest victims need to be shocked. They then automatically calibrate to the proper setting and include voice prompts. What we've learned is that in order for them to be applied quickly they need to be used by non-medical personnel, said Dr. Glenn W. Defibtech CEO and chairman of cardiac surgery and director of Heart Hospital at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, N.J. The device has won various awards over the last several years. Specifications, durability and affordability are all reasons Lifesavers Inc. went with the device, said Lifesavers founder and President Robert Stickel. Each defibrillator has a list price of $1,495, or half the price of most defibrillators less 10 years ago. Stickel said more police departments around the nation are buying defibrillators, and other institutions, including schools, are buying them as well. The three-year New Jersey contract, worth $1.6 million this year, will initially equip police but will be open to other state institutions and agencies in the future. There are thousands and thousands of schools in New Jersey that will be able to buy off of this contract, said Defibtech president Gintaras Vaisnys.

Damian J. Triose can be reached at dtroise@nhhregister.com or 789-5685.