Founder and CEO of CardioThrive, Shelley Savage has dedicated her career to saving lives. Her company’s patented invention, the PocketDefib
, has the potential to dramatically reduce the number of deaths caused by SCA (Sudden cardiac arrest) all over the world. The prolific inventor and innovator has now been named by Business Worldwide Magazine as ‘Healthcare Technology CEO of the Year – USA‘ and ‘Visionary CEO of the Year – USA‘ in the 2023 Global Corporate Excellence Awards.
The Awards recognise and reward outstanding companies and their top executives for exceptional performance, innovation and ethical leadership in the global business and finance sectors. These awards showcase respected industry players on a world stage, highlighting their contributions to international business while inspiring excellence in others.
Every day, over 1,000 people die of SCA in the United States alone, and all over the world it remains one of the leading causes of sudden death. Doctors want more Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to be available everywhere, but even though more are being installed in public spaces survival rates are still alarmingly low. Just 1% of people who experience Sudden Cardiac Arrest in public survive, partly due to low availability of equipment but also because of lack of training and/or confidence in how to use it. The average bystander hesitates to use public defibrillators because they don’t know what to do, and they worry about hurting the patient. Others freeze with shock and wait for someone else to take the initiative.
CardioThrive’s PocketDefib is a one-of-a-kind device that can be used by anyone, at any time. Measuring just 5″X 3″X 1 ½”, (slightly thicker than 2 iPhones stacked together) it’s easy to carry and simple to deploy — just unwrap the packaging, pull the paddles apart, and apply them firmly to the victim’s chest. The machine will sense the heart rhythm and deliver therapeutic shocks until it returns to normal.
Despite a great deal of interest and positive feedback, development of the life-saving device hit a stumbling block when COVID-19 struck, leaving the project without funders. Shelley Savage found an alternative way to get the work completed on a low budget and ready for submission to regulatory bodies for approval.
To find out more about CardioThrive’s journey so far and for more detailed information on the PocketDefib AED , visit the company’s website at https://cardiothrive.com/.
For further details on the Global Corporate Excellence Awards, visit https://www.bwmonline.com/awards/
