• Font Size    

Today's Most Popular Video

Man Recalls Night Friend Was Shot By Cop
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Medtronic Sends New Defibrillator To Space Station

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Aug 13, 2008 4:15 pm US/Central

Medtronic Sends New Defibrillator To Space Station

FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) ― Medical device maker Medtronic says that one of it's automated defibrillators has been installed in the International Space Station.
  
The device is called an AED for short. It replaces the larger manual defibrillator from Medtronic that previously was available in the station.
  
NASA installed the device in case an astronaut suffers sudden cardiac arrest. Medtronic says NASA switched to the automated device not only because it's smaller, but because it requires less training and maintenance.
  
Company spokeswoman Jennifer Roth says Fridley-based Medtronic has provided defibrillators to NASA for years, including to its campuses in Houston and Florida.
  
AEDs can automatically interpret a patient's heart rhythm and, if necessary, deliver a potentially lifesaving shock.

-------

Medtronic was founded in 1949 as a medical equipment repair shop by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law, Palmer Hermundslie.



(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.