Deca-Medics Awarded $1 Million Grant

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Deca-Medics, a medical device firm specializing in the development of resuscitation devices, has been awarded $1 million in grant money from the National Institute of Health. The funding will help to finalize the production of the LifeBelt(R)-CPR prototypes and support further scientific studies to be included in its FDA application.

LifeBelt(R)-CPR is a patented, lightweight, medical device used to enhance the effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), in the case of sudden cardiac arrest, the nation's largest killer. LifeBelt(R)-CPR is designed primarily for out-of-hospital and first responder use.

With the grant, Deca-Medics will examine the neurological benefits of using a LifeBelt(R)-CPR unit, as opposed to manual CPR. In addition, Deca- Medics hopes to prove that passive ventilation (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) may not be necessary when a patient in cardiac arrest is receiving CPR with a LifeBelt(R)-CPR unit.

Studies have proven, that patients who are in sudden cardiac arrest, have a 63% greater chance of survival if they receive manual CPR in addition to defibrillation. Preliminary work indicates that the LifeBelt(R)-CPR generates more heart blood flow than manual CPR.

"This grant is a milestone for Deca-Medics. We are at the place where we have a solid product and solid evidence to prove its benefits," states Thom Lach, president of Deca-Medics. "It is our goal that everyone will be as familiar with a LifeBelt(R)-CPR unit as they are with an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) and the LifeBelt(R)-CPR units are just as available, if not more."

Deca-medics hopes to introduce the product to the professional marketplace at under $800 and eventually roll out a home product for under $150.

Deca-Medics, Inc. was founded by Thomas E. Lach and Ralph D. Lach, MD FACC, in 1994. The company currently holds five patents both domestically and internationally for the LifeBelt(R) family of products including both the manual and automated devices. Dr. Lach, a former professor of cardiology at The Ohio State University of Medicine and Public Health, is renowned as a pioneer of balloon angioplasty, performing the first procedure in the Midwest in 1979. Funding makes it possible to steadily improve LifeBelt(R) and continually research the benefits to patients who experience the use of it during sudden cardiac arrest.

CONTACT: Alissa Clark, +1-614-540-5520, for Deca-Medics