Physio-Control was founded in 1955 by Dr. Karl William Edmark as a pioneering company in the field of portable defibrillation. Physio-Control manufactures emergency defibrillation and automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) equipment. The company was most recently acquired in 2016 by Stryker Corporation and is now part of Stryker's Emergency Care division.
History
In 1955, Dr. Karl William Edmark created The Physio-Control Co. to sell his first patient monitor, which simply triggered a light whenever a patient's heart beat, and set off an alarm when a heartbeat is no longer detected. His device was patented as a "Heartbeat Indicator". After moving to Seattle, he developed the first DC defibrillator. Medical defibrillators at the time used alternating current which caused patients to spasm violently because of the high voltage. The DC defibrillator allowed surgeons to administer a more-controlled, low-voltage shock that restored the heartbeat without causing additional trauma.[1]
In 1968, Physio-Control introduced the Lifepak 33 at the annual American Heart Association meeting in November 1968. The idea for the first Lifepak came after Physio-Control learned that Zenith Corp. was developing a 56-pound monitor/defibrillator that was bulky, however portable. With a total weight of 34 pounds, the Lifepak 33 was the lightest defibrillator available at the time.