Medical equipment-maker Opto Circuits is supplying cardiac devices to various football clubs in Australia as part of a campaign to reduce deaths from sudden cardiac arrest.
Cardiac Science Corporation, a subsidiary of Opto Circuits, has started shipping devices to various sporting clubs in Victoria under the ‘Defib Your Club, For Life’ campaign.
“We will be supplying hundreds of Powerheart G3 AEDs toward the campaign ‘Defib Your Club, For Life’, to reduce deaths from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among athletes, officials and spectators in sporting clubs,” Cardiac Science Corporation Sales Director-Asia Pacific Mr Gorm Albeck told PTI.
The company has already started supplying Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) on an ongoing basis during the past six months, in alignment with the commencement of the campaign in Australia, Mr Albeck added.
The company, however, did not share financial details.The campaign ‘Defib Your Club, For Life’, was sparked by the on-field death of a young player, Stephen Buckman, in May 2010. Buckman, 19, collapsed from SCA during training.
His teammates, including paramedic Mr Andrew White, came to his aid and tried to revive him but were unsuccessful.
Post this incident, Mr White became determined to equip all 750 football clubs in Victoria with portable AEDs. In May 2011, he launched the campaign to provide a safer environment for football players, officials and supporters.
Funding for the initiative came from the government, charities and individuals.
Through its partnership with Cardiac Science, the campaign provides a comprehensive defibrillation programme, including training, that is specifically tailored to the needs of sporting clubs.
AEDs are medical devices that diagnose life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms, or cardiac arrhythmia, and deliver electrical energy to the heart to restore its normal rhythm.
The company said the devices supplied under the campaign have been manufactured in its US location. The company manufactures AEDs and related equipment in three facilities worldwide.