12-lead interpretation course for in-hospital providers

Early diagnosis and early intervention in myocardial infarction is the key to long term survival and morbidity. Much time and money has been spent on seeking the gold standard of a 90 minute door to balloon time for myocardial infarction. Doesn’t it make sense for the first person to see the patient to be confident in making the diagnosis? This is the case if the patient is transported to the hospital via ambulance because paramedics have been trained in the interpretation of 12 lead ECGs. If the patient comes to the emergency department by private vehicle or begins to have chest pain while in the hospital, the diagnosis should be made at the earliest possible moment.

Training your emergency department, telemetry and intensive care nurses in the interpretation of 12 lead ECGs makes sense. They are the healthcare personnel who will be at the bedside of the patients at high risk for myocardial infarction. Those registered nurses will be the ones called to see the patient first. Your facility can trim precious moments off the time it takes to get the patient to definitive treatment if the diagnosis can be made earlier.

We have a cost efficient course that will provide your registered nurses with the knowledge that they need to interpret that all so important 12 lead ECG. When they have completed the course they will be confident in making the diagnosis of myocardial infarction and the location of the infarction. They will be presented with the information at the speed that they are comfortable with. They are not limited by time constraints. Each and every nurse can learn 12 lead ECG interpretation at their own speed. When they feel confident, they can demonstrate their competency by taking the online examination. Everyone is a winner. The nurse gains knowledge that sets her or him apart and you gain precious moments in the race to acceptable door to balloon times. Students can take their career even further if they have taken our arrhythmia interpretation course. They would then be able to sit for the Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI) certified rhythm analysis technician (CRAT) examination.

This course is also applicable for Medicare pre-operative assessment. Usually this will be billed under V72.81 (pre-operative cardiovascular examination).

Course format

This course is offered in in-person group format and online format. All our instructors hold current and valid ACLS instructor credentials from the American Heart Association. (Some customers require that our instructors additionally hold paramedic licensure, we can meet this requirement.)

Take this course for required job training.

Course overview

Our course front matter includes the syllabus, complete accreditation statements and statements from all instructors and contributors.

Accreditations

This course is accredited for up to 8 hours of continuing medical education hours by AMA — American Medical Association, ANCC — American Nurses Credentialing Center, ADA CERP — American Dental Association, ACPE — Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. See full accreditation statements from these organizations in the course front matter above. See our accreditation letters and sample certificates on our accreditations page.

Scientific basis

This course is written based on scientific evidence. Our main works cited for this course are:

  • Burke AP, Virmani R. Pathophysiology of acute myocardial infarction. Med Clin North Am. 2007;91:553-572.
  • Freifeld AG, Schuster EH, Bulkley BH. Nontransmural versus transmural myocardial infarction. A morphologic study. Am J Med. 1983;75:423-432.
  • Bayés de Luna A, Wagner G, Birnbaum Y, et al. A new terminology for left ventricular walls and location of myocardial infarcts that present Q wave based on the standard of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: a statement for healthc re professionals from a committee appointed by the International Society for Holter and invasive electrocardiography. Circulation. 2006;114:1755-1760.

Additional review information

Additional information is available for organizations that are reviewing our course, just ask us.

  • Complete printout of study materials
  • Complete testing instruments with answer keys -- This is only available to accreditation organizations and government regulators that review our course.
  • Complimentary online course access
  • Resumes, CVs and all credentialing information for our instructors

Completion eCard

Sample of our course completion eCard (click to enlarge):
Sample certificate monitor tech 12 lead ECG.

Please verify the authenticity of our certificates by emailing us with the name and issue date of the student.

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Contact us by email at anytime , or by phone Monday through Friday 8AM to 5PM Pacific Time (PT) at +1 484‑464‑2883 or , to schedule an in-person training for your group (minimum of 10 people). Or see our online sales page.

The American Heart Association name is owned by American Heart Association, Inc. Pacific Medical Training has no affiliation with American Heart Association.