Medtronic Could be Winner Under New Heart-Revival Equipment Law

MINNEAPOLIS – Locally based Medtronic quickly seized an opportunity to promote its automated external defibrillators in response to a measure signed into law this week by President Clinton. The new law, called the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, will spawn the deployment of portable lifesaving devices as standard equipment for public gathering places such as airports, shopping malls, stadiums, convention centers, schools and office buildings.

More than 40,000 of these devices have already been placed in police cars, commercial airliners, airports, hotels and casinos, sports arenas, high schools, manufacturing plants and other public places. Medtronic’s Physio-Control division is one of the biggest manufacturers of portable, external defibrillators.