Introduction to ECG Course (GPT009)

Please make sure you verify the precise dates and timings of your course when you receive your booking confirmation, as it may vary from the information provided above.

M01 – Introduction: History, definitions, types of ECG, the uses of an ECG, results, and risks.

M02 – Infection Prevention & Control: Reducing healthcare-associated infections. Keeping Safe.

M03 – Professionalism & Effective Communication: Interacting with patients and staff and the use of effective communication methods.

M04 – Legal Requirements & Consent: Legal Obligations and Accountability. Criminal, Civil and Contractual law in healthcare. Vicarious Liability and your Duty of Care.

M05 – Preparation for the ECG Examination: Patient preparation when performing a resting ECG, skin preparation, placement of the electrodes & the Angle of Louis.

M06 – The Electricity of the Heart: The heart’s electrical signal, depolarisation & repolarisation, the wiring of the heart, PQRST complex.

M07 – The ECG Machine: Times & speeds, PR interval, QRS complex, Recording an ECG, machine calibration, Obtaining a good quality recording, Variation from standard, Equipment & clinical room specification, environmental considerations, documentation, storage & confidentiality, and Electrocardiography on children.

M08 – The 12-Lead ECG: A detailed look at the 12-lead ECG.

M09 – The Shape of the QRS Complex: QRS for limb leads, the cardiac axis, deviation and QRS for V leads.

M10 - Conduction issues within the AV node & Bundle of His: The AV node & the Bundle of His, types of heart block, first degree block, second degree block and third-degree blocks.

M11 - Conduction Issues within the Bundle Branches: Bundle Branch Block, Right and Left Bundle Branch Block

M12 - Conduction issues with the Distal Section of the LBBB: A guide on conduction issues with the distal section of the LBBB

M13 - The Heart’s Rhythm: What happens when depolarisation doesn’t start in the

SA node, the intrinsic rhythm of the heart, sinus arrhythmia, sinus bradycardia & sinus tachycardia, abnormalities in the cardiac rhythm, supraventricular rhythms, abnormal rhythm.

M14 - The Heart’s Rhythm – Bradycardias & Ectopic Beats: Escape rhythms, atrial escape, junctional escape, complete heart block, ventricular escape, accelerated idioventricular rhythm, extrasystoles, atrial & junctional extrasystoles and ventricular extrasystoles.

M15 - The Heart’s Rhythm – Tachycardias: Supraventricular Tachycardia and Ventricular Tachycardia

M16 - The Heart’s Rhythm – Fibrillation & WPW: Fibrillation and why it happens, atrial and ventricular fibrillation, the Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome.

M17 - Abnormalities within the P, QRS & T Waves: What to check when interpreting an ECG, abnormalities in the P wave, QRS complex, ST segment & T wave, Right Ventricular Hypertrophy, Pulmonary Embolism, Left ventricular hypertrophy, acute myocardial injury, pericarditis and ischaemia.

PART 2 - CLASSROOM (am, pm or evening sessions)

Half day (morning, afternoon or evening sessions): skill-set development with practical demonstrations and hands-on experience in set-up, ECG electrode placement and observing a number of ECG traces.

M18 - The Basics - an overview: Welcome to ECG interpretation, revision.

M19 - Atrial Fibrillation & Flutter: Detailed overview.

M20 – Bundle Branch Blocks: Detailed overview.

Practical Sessions