Introduction to Electrocardiogram Interpretation

Catalog description

Reading and interpreting electrocardiograms are important skills for an exercise physiologist and many other allied health care practitioners. This skill features prominently in the job task analyses for industry certifications. The electrocardiograph is an instrument that measures electrical potentials on the body surface and generates a record of the electrical currents associated with heart muscle activity. The graphic record generated by the electrocardiograph is called an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG). The EKG provides information about the rhythm and rate of contraction of heart muscle and the strength, timing and direction of electrical signals as they pass through various areas of the heart. Specific abnormalities of rate and rhythm will produce recognizable patterns in the EKG waveforms. This course will begin with cardiac anatomy and cardiac action potential production and conduction. The course material will progress through normal EKG patterns through common abnormalities in various areas of the heart as well as patterns related to infarction, acute injury and ischemia. The hemodynamic consequences of these abnormalities will be discussed. The effects of exercise, prescription medications and other drugs on the EKG will be explored. Successful completion of this course does not grant the authority to provide a medical diagnosis based upon an EKG interpretation; only a physician can do so