CellAED: a success story that started at MEDICA

In this interview with MEDICA-tradefair.com, Donovan Casey talks about the AED that can be used at home or on the go. He explains how it can combat the death toll from cardiac arrest and why the company is coming to MEDICA 2023.

Mr. Casey, what is CellAED from Rapid Response Revival? How does it work?

Donovan Casey: CellAED is the world’s first personal defibrillator. We invented CellAED to make defibrillators more accessible and affordable, addressing the low survival rate associated with sudden cardiac arrest.

Public access defibrillators are great when used, but are usually too far from most cardiac arrests. Around 80 percent of sudden cardiac deaths occur in homes, where defibrillators are unlikely to be found due to their high cost.

CellAED was created so households could afford to own a defibrillator. We made it small, lightweight, and easy to use because we want ordinary people to be ready to respond if a cardiac arrest occurs near them.

What problem does it address?

Casey: AEDs (automated external defibrillators) buy time for people in cardiac arrest, who have little chance of survival without immediate CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and defibrillation.

Cardiac arrest kills quickly. For every minute without treatment, the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest decrease by 10 percent. By making AEDs proximal, we have a higher chance of help being provided in time, and more lives being saved from sudden cardiac arrest.

We first started supplying CellAED in our home country, Australia in late 2022. Of the more than 10,000 CellAEDs now in circulation, 58 percent have been adopted for the home – proving that we are already on our way to achieving our mission of getting AEDs into homes.

How should we raise more awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and emergency responses in public?

Casey: Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the world’s highest causes of premature death. Contributors to this situation include the fact that most people do not know how to recognize cardiac arrest, or how to act quickly to give the patients their best chances of survival.

Education on sudden cardiac arrest, and higher first aid literacy rates in our communities are vital. The more people who understand the problem and are prepared to step up and be part of the solution, the higher the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.

We are recognizing a shift in thinking among health authorities and experts in parts of the world where CellAED has been introduced. With CellAED, we are changing the conversation from being just about public access defibrillation; now, they are seeing the potential for personal access defibrillators to get AEDs where they need to be – especially in homes, where most sudden cardiac deaths occur.

Has there already been research conducted with/about CellAED? If so, what were the findings? If not, are you currently planning to conduct studies?

Casey: Significant clinical evidence underpins CellAED and its acceptance by medical device regulators in more than 70 countries, including across the EU. This evidence found that it is possible to change the way an AED is engineered without compromising its clinical efficacy.

With CellAED, we have made an AED that is a fraction of the size, weight, and cost of conventional AEDs. It requires less energy to produce a shock that is equivalent to that of the AEDs the world is used to. And with its unique Snap-Peel-Stick design, it can be applied to the patient in seconds.

CellAED is available today because of these clinical findings, proving that despite its unorthodox design, it is equally as effective as conventional AED technology.

In addition to this evidence, we are planning for the future by currently conducting both in-hospital cath lab trials, and in-community trials. These trials validate what prior clinical research and real-world use of CellAED has already told us: that CellAED consistently delivers therapy and has terminated lethal arrhythmias, achieving ROSC (return of spontaneous circulation) with no safety issues or adverse events.

RRR has been a regular exhibitor at MEDICA in the past, you started exhibiting a few years ago with a stand at MEDICA START-UP PARK. Tell us more about your plans for this year.

Casey: When we were last at MEDICA, CellAED was at the prototype stage. Today, we are manufacturing thousands of CellAEDs per month and, by the time we get to MEDICA, we will have placed tens of thousands of CellAEDs in the hands of adopters in multiple countries worldwide.

MEDICA 2023 offers us a global stage upon which to showcase what we have achieved with CellAED, and what is next to come.

At MEDICA, we also intend to bring together our initial commercial and other partners from around the world to align our business, as well as meet potential partners who can help us continue rolling CellAED out to different parts of the world.

We also expect to meet with existing and potential investors in our business at MEDICA, which will provide us with an excellent opportunity to share what we have achieved and where we’re headed.

Ultimately, we see MEDICA 2023 as a key opportunity to set our business up for the next three years, aligning our partners and investors and laying the foundation for changing the paradigm from public access to personal access defibrillation worldwide.