ZOLL LifeVest® WCD Saved 143 Lives Over the Holiday Season

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZOLL®, an Asahi Kasei company that manufactures medical devices and related software solutions, announced that the LifeVest® wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) saved 143 patients between Thanksgiving Day (U.S.) and New Year’s Day, an average of four patients per day. LifeVest is a wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) that is prescribed to heart patients who are at temporary risk of sudden cardiac death due to certain rapid life-threatening heart rhythms. When needed, the device can deliver a lifesaving treatment shock.

“LifeVest saves lives every day, but the holidays are a special time of year to reflect and celebrate the impact this has on so many patients and their loved ones,” said Mike Blastick, President of ZOLL Cardiac Management Solutions. “Patients are at the forefront of everything we do at ZOLL. We push ourselves to deliver the best solutions for patients – that means continually raising the bar for excellence in the WCD category to protect and save even more patients.”

“More than two decades of engineering, patient feedback, and clinical evidence have shaped the most proven, patient-preferred LifeVest available today,” said Peter A. Brady, MD, Vice President of Medical and Clinical Affairs.

More clinicians and patients are choosing a LifeVest WCD today than ever before.¹ LifeVest ranks #1 in patient compliance this decade at 23.4+ hours/day (median) based on peer-reviewed publications and real-world data.^2,3,4 ZOLL completed full U.S. launch of a next generation LifeVest garment prior to the 2025 holiday season. Patients prefer the next generation garment as even more comfortable and easier to use.⁵

The modern LifeVest WCD system available today is designed for enhanced patient comfort, safety and interaction. The LifeVest WCD monitor features a streamlined design, based on extensive patient feedback and safety testing, and does not require an additional device for patients to interact directly with the system. In the recent SCD-PROTECT study of nearly 20,000 consecutive LifeVest patients, LifeVest delivered incomparable safety while protecting patients from sudden cardiac death due to VT/VF.² Per study data, the inappropriate treatment rate was extremely low, at 0.5% — by far the lowest rate across WCDs in published clinical data, and there were 0 deaths from VT/VF in patients wearing LifeVest.²

SCD-PROTECT builds upon a robust history of evidence for the LifeVest WCD. LifeVest has delivered a >97% first shock success rate in clinical trials and real-world analyses.^6,7,8,9 LifeVest is the only WCD with 100% VT/VF conversion in a randomized control trial.¹⁰

With >140,000 patients in peer-reviewed clinical publications and well over one million lives protected, LifeVest is the most used, studied and proven wearable defibrillator. Learn more at LifeVestInnovation.com.

About the LifeVest WCD

LifeVest is a wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) that is prescribed to patients at risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). LifeVest is designed to detect certain life-threatening rapid heart rhythms and, if needed, automatically deliver a treatment shock to restore normal heart rhythm. While some defibrillator devices are implanted, LifeVest is worn directly against your skin, under regular clothing. Most patients wear LifeVest until their condition improves or their doctor makes a decision about long-term care.

About ZOLL

ZOLL, an Asahi Kasei company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and cardiac monitoring, circulation enhancement and CPR feedback, supersaturated oxygen therapy, data management, ventilation, therapeutic temperature management, and sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, as well as lay rescuers, improve patient outcomes in critical cardiopulmonary conditions. For more information, visit www.zoll.com.

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber businesses, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 50,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to a sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Healthcare, Homes, and Material. Its healthcare operations include devices and systems for critical care, products and services for the manufacture of biotherapeutics, and a growing portfolio of specialty pharmaceuticals. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.

Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.

1 Based on commercial data as of November 2025.
2 David Duncker, Eloi Marijon, Marco Metra, Olivier Piot, Marat Fudim, Uwe Siebert, Norbert Frey, Lars Siegfried Maier, Johann Bauersachs, Sudden cardiac death in newly diagnosed non-ischaemic or ischaemic cardiomyopathy assessed with a wearable cardioverter-defibrillator: the German nationwide SCD-PROTECT study, European Heart Journal, 2025;, ehaf668, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf668
3 Garcia R, Combes N, Defaye P, et al. Wearable cardioverter-defibrillator in patients with a transient risk of sudden cardiac death: the WEARIT-France cohort study. EP Europace. 2020;23(1):73-81. doi:10.1093/europace/euaa268.
4 Data on file, 90d0258_a01. 2021 Commercial Compliance Analysis.
5 Data on file, 20c1184_a01. Garment Comparative Wear Test.
6 Chung MK, Szymkiewicz SJ, Shao M, et al. Aggregate national experience with the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator: Event rates, compliance, and survival. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;56(3):194–203
7 Kutyifa V, Moss AJ, Klein H, et al. Use of the wearable cardioverter defibrillator in high-risk cardiac patients: Data from the prospective registry of patients using the wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WEARIT-II Registry). Circulation. 2015;132(17):1613–1619
8 Data on file, 90d0241_a01. Report of AArD Performance during 2019.
9 Data on file, 90a0061_a01_revb. Clinical Evaluation Report for LifeVest Wearable Defibrillator, Model 4000, 2021.
10 Olgin, J. E., Pletcher, M. J., Vittinghoff, E., et al. Wearable Cardioverter–Defibrillator after Myocardial Infarction. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018; 379(13): 1205–1215. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1800781

Disclaimer: A controlled, head-to-head study evaluating the comparative performance of available WCD devices has not been done.

Copyright © 2026 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. ZOLL and LifeVest are registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Asahi Kasei is a registered trademark of Asahi Kasei Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Caitlyn Doyle
ZOLL
+1 (412) 334-4501
cdoyle@zoll.com