A Medical Device Daily

Cardiac Science (Bothell, Washington), a developer of cardiac monitoring and external defibrillation products, reported signing a contract with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to deploy Cardiac Science's Powerheart automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the its state park system, installing 90 Powerheart AEDs in its parks.

Parks to receive AEDs include Lovers Key State Park in Lee County, St. Andrews State Park in Bay County and Cape Florida State Park in Miami-Dade County. The state park system covers 725,000 acres and hosts more than 18 million visitors annually.

Colleen Castille, secretary of Florida DEP, said, "By installing life-saving Powerheart defibrillators and training our park system staff to use them in an appropriate emergency, we strengthen our ability to be responsible stewards of our guest's safety, as well as of our natural resources."

Powerheart AEDs feature RHYTHMx software which detects abnormal heart rhythms, determines whether they are life-threatening and only delivers a shock when needed. Powerheart AEDs also feature RescueReady technology, which automatically tests the device on a frequent basis to ensure continued functionality. Powerheart's STAR Biphasic Waveform Technology provides levels of escalating energy customized to the patient. Powerheart AEDs are used by hospitals, police and fire departments, as well as many public access facilities including major corporations, public agencies, airlines and airports, arenas, schools, hotels, casinos and consumers. For more information about Powerheart, go to www.powerheart.com.

In other contract news:

• Medidata Solutions (New York) reported that AstraZeneca (London) has chosen to standardize on Medidata Rave electronic clinical data capture (EDC), management and reporting solution as part of a plan to fully migrate to paperless clinical trials.

Medidata Rave will help AstraZeneca replace its in-house EDC system and other EDC products for studies across all therapeutic categories in its diverse portfolio. AstraZeneca said it plans to implement Medidata Rave in many of its studies worldwide.

"We needed a tool that would grow alongside us, rather than force us to make changes that would ultimately impact our user base," said Robert Mullen, Global Project Leader for Medidata Rave Implementation at AstraZeneca.

Tarek Sherif, CEO of Medidata, said, "AstraZeneca's selection of Medidata Rave speaks to our ability to scale to accommodate any size company or trial and implement our solution as any sponsor's standard for a web-based data capture system. We look forward to supporting AstraZeneca's efforts to go paperless and achieve truly global electronic clinical trials."