Emirates Airline has placed a further order for the Philips Automated External Defibrillator (AED) device, FR2 AED, for the new fleet of Emirates planes that have already been ordered from Boeing and Airbus. The device is the first small, lightweight AED to be cleared for the monitoring and assessment of conscience patients by the Food and Drugs Association (FDA) last March.
Emirates Airline is the only airline in the Middle East to carry such a device on board all aircraft. The Philips FR2 AED is also available throughout the 11 medical stations at Dubai International Airport.
All Emirates aircraft are equipped with an extensive medical kit in addition to the defibrillators, while the medical training of the airline's cabin crew was recently awarded accreditation by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
“The comfort and well being of the passengers we serve each day is of the utmost importance to us. The inclusion of the FR2 AED as standard on-board equipment has already helped us save lives,” Alasdair Beatton, Emirates’ head of Medical Services, said.
Philips is an international manufacturer of medical equipment. The company spent some 8.7 percent of its annual 2001 sales on Research and Development (R&D).
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of €32.3 billion in 2001. It also manufactures color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 184,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems.
Emirate currently servers 58 destinations in 41 countries and is launching services to five new points in 2002. Emirates operates the latest Airbus and Boeing jetliners plus a Boeing 747-400 freighter and recently announced a $15 billion order for 58 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft for delivery by 2010. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
