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Emergency responders in Minnesota trusted capnography to save the life of a man whose heart had stopped for 96 minutes, according to an NPR story.

Capnography showed that despite not having a pulse, Howard Snitzer had good carbon dioxide readings, suggesting that blood was still flowing to the heart and brain, causing emergency responders to keep administering CPR even though it would have been reasonable to stop. Medical personnel shocked Snitzer’s heart 12 times and gave intravenous drugs to restore a regular heartbeat.

As capnography equipment becomes standard for emergency responders, DRE offers the DRE Waveline EZ or the DRE Echo CO2.

As DRE’s new IT Manager, Keith Koebel will oversee a large computer network with two offsite locations.

Koebel will update the company’s technology, including adding connectivity for smartphones and touchpads for remote locations and employees on the road, and putting in new bandwidth to make the site quicker for customers and employees.

The challenge is to upgrade the company’s technology capabilities quickly without disrupting daily operations, he said.

“It’s working now, so I don’t want to break anything,” Koebel said. “You want to keep it up and running. There are a lot of upgrades I look forward to bringing on board. There is so much growth potential and opportunity in the technology.”

Koebel joins as DRE enjoys a period of prolonged growth. In the fall of 2010, DRE was honored in the Inc. Magazine 5000 as one of the fastest growing privately held businesses in the United States.

Koebel’s experience made him the right man for the job. He brings years of technical experience from local companies such as Republic Bank and Hilliard Lyons.

“Adding Keith provides a very strong foundation for the continued development of the business,” said Justin Jeffries, DRE marketing manager." As the company grows, we will continue to add people with the expertise needed to position DRE as a leader in medical equipment distribution."

John Dadds is DRE Medical Equipment’s new Chief Financial Officer, bringing three decades of healthcare-industry financial management experience.

Dadds takes over as the company’s Chief Financial Officer during a prolonged period of remarkable growth. In the fall of 2010, DRE was honored in the Inc. Magazine 5000 as one of the fastest growing privately held businesses in the United States. It will be Dadds’ job to help steer the company to further expansion.

“The challenge is having the staffing level to accommodate the growth, not only people but space and technology,” Dadds said. “For example, when you’re very small, one person can do accounts payable and accounts receivable, but at some point the jobs need to be split among two people who specialize.”

Dadds joins DRE from Associated Insurance Service, Inc. where he had served as Chief Operating Officer since 2006. In the 1980s he spent nine years as an audit manager specializing in healthcare for Coopers & Lybrand, one of the companies that became PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which provides tax and advisory services.

He then joined the start-up of SpectraCare, Inc. Dadds was employee No. 8  for the regional home healthcare company, but when he left 17 years later, it had grown to annual revenues of about $70 million. He said he helped take the company through eight office moves, experience which should serve him well as DRE explores options for expansion.

“Adding John provides a very strong foundation for the continued development of the business,” said Justin Jeffries, DRE marketing manager. “As the company grows, we will continue to add people with the expertise needed to position DRE as a leader in medical equipment distribution."