Electrocardiographs measure the electrical activity of the heart.6 During this examination, heart rate can be recorded, as well as the regularity of the beats. These are two key indicators of any issues in the heart. Physicians can even read an electrocardiograph to determine the size and position of each heart chamber. And finally, a major use for the electrocardiograph is to diagnose damage to the heart and the impact and efficacy of drug treatment or device implant.
ECGs Made Easy?
It is understood that learning all of ECG interpretation is going to take more than 10 minutes of your time and that it is not quite so easy. To be proficient, it will take a bit of effort. Some memorization and pattern recognition will be required. The more you see, the more you will remember. Having a pair of calipers is helpful. But when using LearntheHeart.com to learn ECGs, don’t scratch your computer monitor please. Now that this is understood, let’s get down to it.
Step 1. Learn the Basics of a 12-lead ECG Tracing
First things first. Knowing the basic parts of an ECG tracing will lay a good foundation for everything else that is to come. The different waves, complexes and intervals need to be ingrained in your brain. How many seconds is a full ECG tracing? How much time does each big box and each little box represent?
This is not the time to learn the crazy things such as the different P-wave morphologies that occur with atrial enlargements and ectopic atrial rhythms — but rather, just to know what the normal P wave looks like and what it represents. It’s a similar concept for the other parts of the ECG.
Step 2. Determine Heart Rate on the ECG
To determine whether bradycardia, a normal heart rate or tachycardia is present requires the knowledge to calculate the heart rate on the ECG. Remember to apply these techniques to both the atrial rate, measured by the rate of the P wave, and the ventricular rate, measured by the rate of the QRS complex.
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