DFIB Cardiac Science (MM)

Countrywide Financial Creates a Heart-Safe Environment With the Purchase of Cardiac Science AEDs IRVINE, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cardiac Science, Inc. (NASDAQ:DFIB), a leading manufacturer of life-saving automated public-access defibrillators (AEDs), announced today that Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE:CFC), a Fortune 500 diversified financial services company headquartered in Calabasas, CA, has purchased 83 Powerheart AEDs for initial deployment in nearly 20 corporate locations. "Countrywide is dedicated to providing a safe workplace for all of our employees, customers and visitors at offices throughout the country, and we recognize that having AEDs available in those environments is a central part of that initiative," said Patrick Benton, Executive Vice President of Administration for Countrywide. "We hope we never have to use the AEDs, but if we do the Cardiac Science devices will be on hand when we need them." Cardiac Science Chairman and CEO Raymond W. Cohen said leading employers such as Countrywide recognize the need to deploy AEDs in their corporate offices and that their decisions to invest in creating a heart-safe environment are being rewarded as the number of people saved by AEDs in the workplace grows weekly. "People spend a significant part of their lives at their jobs so it makes sense to make those workplaces as safe as possible in the event of a life-threatening emergency," Cohen said. "The corporate workplace market in the United States is still in its infancy and is just beginning to take shape in Western European nations. Our latest U.S. market research revealed that more than 50 percent of corporations indicated they were considering placing AEDs in their facilities and 35 percent indicated they were likely to deploy within the next year. The bottom line is that general awareness about life-saving AEDs is rapidly increasing and both business executives and rank and file employees are beginning to investigate the benefits of a heart-safe environment. We believe the corporate and government workplace market in the U.S. will be the fastest growing segment of the AED market and we will continue to focus our energies on being the leading supplier of both AEDs and AED/CPR training services." About Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and AEDs Currently 95 percent of SCA victims die before reaching the hospital due to the length of time it takes for emergency personnel to arrive on the scene. Over 340,000 Americans die each year from SCA. In fact, a person's chance of survival is reduced by about 10 percent for every minute spent waiting for a potentially life-saving defibrillation shock. Implementation of a successful public access defibrillation program has achieved survival rates as high as 74 percent if patients received defibrillation within 3 minutes. The American Heart Association estimates that as many as 50,000 of these lives can be saved if an automated external defibrillator is available at the time of the emergency, and someone is nearby who has been trained to use it. AEDs are becoming more widely available and are being used in a variety of settings, including airplanes and airports, office buildings, industrial plants, casinos, golf courses, cruise ships, sports arenas and health clubs. In fact, results from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and American Heart Association-sponsored public access defibrillation (PAD) study of automated defibrillators in public places found that deploying AEDs and training citizens to use them can double the chances of surviving SCA. The PAD study showed that response programs that train lay responders in CPR and AED use, and have AEDs on site, significantly improve survival from cardiac arrest for victims in public settings. During the two-year study, 124 cardiac arrests occurred in public facilities where an AED was available and 31 percent of those persons survived versus 17 percent of the 86 arrests that occurred in venues where only conventional responses -- CPR and a call to 911 -- were available. About Countrywide Financial Corporation Founded in 1969, Countrywide Financial Corporation is a member of the S&P 500 and Fortune 500. Through its family of companies, Countrywide provides mortgage banking and diversified financial services in domestic and international markets. Mortgage banking businesses include loan production and servicing principally through Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., which originates, purchases, securitizes, sells, and services primarily prime-quality loans. Also included in Countrywide's mortgage banking segment is the LandSafe group of companies that provide loan closing services. Diversified financial services encompass capital markets, banking, insurance, and global, largely through the activities of Countrywide Capital Markets, a mortgage-related investment banker; Countrywide Bank, a division of Treasury Bank, N.A., a banking entity offering customers CDs, money market accounts, and home loan products; Balboa Life & Casualty Group, whose companies are national providers of property, liability, and life insurance; Balboa Reinsurance, a captive mortgage reinsurance company; and Global Home Loans, a European mortgage banking joint venture in which Countrywide holds a majority interest. For more information about the Company, visit Countrywide's Web site at http://www.countrywide.com/. About Cardiac Science Cardiac Science develops, manufactures and markets Powerheart(R)-brand public-access defibrillators (AEDs) and offers comprehensive AED/CPR training and AED program management services that facilitate successful deployments. The Company also makes the Powerheart(R) CRM(TM), the only FDA-cleared therapeutic patient monitor that instantly and automatically treats hospitalized cardiac patients who suffer life-threatening heart rhythms. Cardiac Science also manufactures its AED products on a private label basis for other leading medical companies. For more information, please visit http://www.cardiacscience.com/, email Cardiac Science at or call 1-949-797-3800. This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Cardiac Science cautions that these statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties and are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements and should not be relied upon by investors when making an investment decision. Information on these and other factors is detailed in Cardiac Science's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and subsequent quarterly filings, and other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For further information, please contact: investors, Matt Clawson, , or media, Len Hall, , both of Allen & Caron, Inc., +1-949-474-4300, for Cardiac Science, Inc.; or Michael Gioffredi, Chief Marketing Officer of Cardiac Science, Inc., +1-949-797-3800, . DATASOURCE: Cardiac Science, Inc. CONTACT: investors, Matt Clawson, , or media, Len Hall, , both of Allen & Caron, Inc., +1-949-474-4300, for Cardiac Science, Inc.; or Michael Gioffredi, Chief Marketing Officer of Cardiac Science, Inc., +1-949-797-3800, Web site: http://www.countrywide.com/ Web site: http://www.cardiacscience.com/

Copyright