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Welch Allyn's New Smartlink Wireless System Expedites Delivery of Advanced Hospital-Based Treatment to Cardiac Patients; EMS Personnel Can Now Transmit Vital Signs During Emergency Transport; Alleviates Pressure on Emergency Room CHICAGO --(Business Wire)-- Sept. 28, 2004 -- Welch Allyn, a leading global manufacturer of frontline medical products and solutions, introduced Smartlink(TM) Wireless, a revolutionary rapid response system for transmitting critical patient data from an ambulance or helicopter to a receiving hospital's cardiac care team using a digital cellular network.Utilizing this software technology, healthcare providers can instantaneously send a heart attack victim's vital signs data including 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) directly to a cardiologist while the patient is in route to the hospital. The result is a demonstratively shorter "door-to-dilation" time or the time between the patient's arrival at a cardiac catheterization laboratory and the successful completion of an angioplasty procedure to alleviate the effects of a blocked coronary artery. "Over 1.2 million people suffer from heart attacks in the U.S. every year with a 42 percent fatality rate," said James P. Fee, Jr., vice president and general manager of Welch Allyn's defibrillation business. "Smartlink Wireless enables healthcare providers to treat these patients in a significantly shorter timeframe, which not only improves outcomes but lowers costs associated with delayed treatment outcomes such as permanent heart muscle damage." The Smartlink Wireless system utilizes a Welch Allyn PIC 50(TM) device that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel use to monitor, and if necessary defibrillate, a patient suffering from a heart attack. Once the EMS team has stabilized the patient for transport to a medical facility, they acquire and transmit a 12-lead ECG from the PIC 50 to a receiving hospital server using a handheld personal digital assistant (PDA). The receiving hospital server can then send the data to individual clinicians, such as the cardiologist on call, using web-enabled PDAs or telephones. All of the data transmission happens in just seconds. According to an article appearing in the January 2004 issue of Today in Cardiology, the national average door-to-dilation time is 104 minutes. Most clinical experts agree that severe heart muscle damage is likely to occur after just two hours. Heart muscle damage and severity is directly linked to the length of time it takes to get effective treatment, generally available only in hospitals with specialized cardiac care capabilities. With Smartlink Wireless, Welch Allyn expects the door-to-dilation time to be significantly reduced and therefore, improve patient outcomes. In addition to AEDs, Welch Allyn also manufactures and markets a complete line of crash cart defibrillators and multi-parameter monitors for the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest and related cardiopulmonary emergency events. For more information about Welch Allyn products please call 800-535-6663 or visit our website at www.welchallyn.com. About Welch Allyn: Welch Allyn, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is today a leading manufacturer of innovative medical diagnostic and therapeutic devices, cardiac defibrillators, patient monitoring systems, and miniature precision lamps. Headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, New York, USA, Welch Allyn employs more than 2,300 people and has numerous manufacturing, sales, and distribution facilities located throughout the world. Additional information on Welch Allyn and its products may be found at www.welchallyn.com Smartlink is a trademark of Welch Allyn, Inc. |
