Boca Raton, FL – January 2, 2012— Atrus, Inc, and the Town of Palm Beach have announced a new partnership aimed at saving lives in the Town with the addition of Atrus’ AED Link™ system. This new information system will assist 9-1-1 dispatchers in helping callers locate life-saving automated external defibrillators (AEDs) available near sudden cardiac arrest victims.

With AED Link™ 9-1-1, dispatchers instantly view the location of registered AEDs near the scene of sudden cardiac arrest emergencies and instruct bystanders to retrieve one in time to help save a life.

To encourage the registration of AEDs, The Town is reaching out to owners and managers of office buildings, restaurants, malls, gyms, recreational venues, churches and other locations where AEDs may be available. AED owners should visit www.NationalAEDRegistry.com to register their AEDs at no cost.

By registering their AEDs, owners will also receive a number of free benefits including periodic reminders to check the device and timely reminders to change electrodes and/or batteries when the expiration dates approach.

“The problem is that, until now, publicly available AEDs are rarely used in an emergency because people can’t see them and 9-1-1 dispatchers are unaware they are nearby,” said Dr. Kenneth Scheppke, the medical director of Palm Beach Fire Rescue.

“The new system lets us instantly see the location of all registered AEDs near a sudden cardiac arrest victim so we can send someone to get one in time to help save a life,” Fire-Rescue spokesman James Weber said.

“It is widely quoted that survival from cardiac arrest decreases 10% for every minute that goes by,” Atrus’ CEO and President Elliot Fisch added. “AED Link can decrease the time to first shock by assuring that available AEDs are used. There are too many stories of people dying in buildings that have AEDs or AEDs nearby. AED Link was created to solve that problem.”

About Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 300,000 people yearly. Compact and portable, AEDs are designed to be used by laypeople with little or no training to deliver a shock that can save a victim’s life before paramedics arrive. According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association website (www.suddencardiacarrest.org), “It is essential that defibrillation be administered immediately following the cardiac arrest. If the heart does not return to a regular rhythm within 5-7 minutes, this fibrillation could be fatal.

About Atrus, Inc. Atrus’ products and services improve the ability of 911 dispatchers to provide faster lifesaving automated external defibrillator (AED) response within a community. Atrus’ AED Link™ software notifies 911 centers of nearby AED location information from its National AED Registry™ to substantially increase the coverage range of public access AEDs. To learn more, go to www.atrusinc.com.