ZOLL Medical Singapore wins SBR International Business Award for Healthcare Technology

The firm was recognised for its innovation in the medical field.

To complement hospital resuscitation protocols and provide early defibrillation to at-risk patients, ZOLL Medical Asia Pacific launched in 2021 the Hospital Wearable Defibrillator (HWD) in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. 

The HWD is the world's first and only wearable defibrillator developed for in-hospital use for continuous protection of patients who are at risk of sudden cardiac death.

Worldwide, the sudden and unexpected cardiac death is the most common cause of death, accounting for 17 million deaths each year, with SCD accounting for 25% of these.¹

Whilst data on incidence and survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest is still limited, most studies report an incidence of one to six of these events per 1,000 hospital admissions. Treatment and survival remain a challenge: just 12-25% survive.²

Of course, for these at-risk patients, every minute matters and rapid treatment of patients at risk of sudden cardiac death can mean the difference between neurologically intact survival or, for survivors, something less.

The HWD rapidly detects and automatically defibrillate patients to restore normal heart rhythm. In a typical situation, the entire event, from time the HWD detects a life-threatening rapid heartbeat, to automatically delivering a treatment shock, occurs in about one minute. When the heart can be returned quickly to a perfusing rhythm, long-term complications can be minimised.

Since its launch in February 2021, the HWD has been adopted by six hospitals in Malaysia and Thailand and has successfully protected dozens of patients in Malaysia and Thailand.

"HWD provides much-needed protection to patients who may require defibrillation therapy in the event of heart rhythm failure, when they are treated in a non-critical unit. Immediate treatment or shock therapy is important for patients with sudden cardiac arrest because every minute wasted increases the risk of death by another ten percent." Dr. Abdul Raqib, Consultant Cardiologist at Serdang Hospital in Malaysia, said.

ZOLL Medical Asia Pacific is eyeing to expand the availability of the technology to more countries in Asia Pacific and looking to continue working hand in hand with healthcare professionals and hospitals to identify and protect hospitalised patients at risk of SCD.

For these, the company was honoured with the SBR International Business Awards in the Healthcare Technology. The awards programme, presented by Singapore Business Review, gives recognition to the outstanding projects of foreign companies in Singapore.

References:

1. https://www.aerjournal.com/articles/sudden-cardiac-death-and-arrhythmias

2. https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6373 

Watch the interview below to know more about their winning project: