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.

In 1992, Physio-Control voluntarily shut down production of its defibrillators and patient monitors after a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found the company had failed to follow “good manufacturing practices,” including inadequate failure investigations, not properly inspecting critical components of its products, and failing to adequately document manufacturing and testing procedures in writing.

[1] In July 1994, Physio-Control was sold to Bain Capital Corp., a Boston investment group, for $23.3 million.

It was able to provide more consistent and effective compression over longer spans than First Responders, and has now become an essential part of many ambulance kits.

While this system is typically used in the field, it has also been used in the hospital setting to prolong human life while surgical or other procedures are accomplished.

[12] According to official Physio-Control media, a Lifepak 8 was deployed by NASA, however no further info or alternate sources exist to substantiate this claim.

NSWA is also currently performing a complete roll-out of LUCAS 3 devices to all General Duty and Intensive Care ambulances.

[8] Alongside the release of this new model, all legacy Physio-Control websites (with the exception of "lucas-cpr.com") were removed, with their URLs being redirected to Stryker's "Emergency Care" page.