NHA EKG Certification Study Guide

SA Node

What is the heart's primary pacemaker?

Occlusion

What is a more medically correct term for the clotting of an artery?

P Wave

When the Atria depolarize (or contract), what is shown on the EKG tracing?

Heart to the Right Arm

aVR picks up from the center of the ___ to the ___ ___.
(Add "to the" in your answer.)

Sinus Arrhythmia

An irregular heartbeat that is common among children is called _____ _____.

1 mm

1 small box on an EKG strip denotes 0.04 seconds of time. How long is this represented in millimeters?

Right Arm to the Left Arm

Lead I picks up from the ___ ___ to the ___ ___. (Add "to the" in your answer.)

Cardiac Output

What is the term used to described the amount of blood pumped by the heart per minute?

Standard Leads

Leads I through III are collectively known as?

Right Arm to the Left Leg

Lead II picks up from the ___ ___ to the ___ ___. (Add "to the" in your answer.)

Precordial Leads

Leads V1 through V6 are collectively known as
(Hint: Chest)

Aorta

What is the main artery in the arterial system?
(Hint: It carries oxygenated blood to the heart and other parts of the body.)

Heart to the Left Arm

aVL picks up from the center of the ___ to the ___ ___.
(Add "to the" in your answer.)

Augmented Leads

aVR, aVL, and aVF are collectively known as?

Left Arm to the Left Leg

Lead III picks up from the ___ ___ to the ___ ___. (Add "to the" in your answer.)

Grounding

Leg electrodes are only used for?

Heart to the Left Leg

aVF picks up from the center of the ___ to the ___ ___.
(Add "to the" in your answer.)

Superior Vena Cava

What is the main vein in the venous system? (Hint: It carries deoxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart's right atrium.)

AV Node

When the heart is in a Systolic State, what pacemaker releases an electrical impulse?

V4 and V6

V5, located on the anterior axillary line (AAL), should be placed halfway between which two leads?

Bicuspid Valve

The Mitral Valve is also known as the ___ ___.

QRS Complex

When the Ventricles depolarize (or contract), what is shown on the EKG tracing?

Systolic

When using a Sphygmomanometer (Blood Pressure Cuff) to measure blood pressure, the FIRST audible thump when listening to the brachial artery with a Stethoscope denotes what kind of pressure?

Second

The Angle of Louis provides the LOCATION for which intercostal space? (Write out the number)

Ischemia

When clotting reduces oxygen supply to a region of the heart it is known as _____.

PR Segment

When the Atria repolarize (or are at rest), what is shown on the EKG tracing?

False

True or False?
You should stop a stress test because of a change of heart rhythm.

Aortic Valve

What is missing in this outline of Pulmonary Circulation?
1) RA (Right Atrium)
2) Tricuspid Valve
3) RV (Right Ventricle)
4) Pulmonary Valve
5) Pulmonary Arteries (Right/Left)
6) Lungs
7) Pulmonary Veins (Right/Left)
8) LA (Left Atrium)
9) Mitral Valve
10

Angle of Louis

What is formed by the manubrium and the body of the sternum and helps in electrode placement?

Right

V1 is placed in the 4th intercostal space and is located on which side of the sternum?

Atrial Rate

The distance between P wave to P wave can be used to calculate what kind of rate? (2 words)
Equation = 1500 / (distance b/w P waves)(# of boxes b/w P waves)
OR
300 / # of big boxes b/w P waves

V4

Which lead should be placed just below the nipple, in the 5th intercostal space on the midclavicular line (MCL)?

Sinus Arrest

What arrhythmia is associated with the skipping of heartbeats on an EKG tracing? (2 words)

Right

Which side of the sternum would you place V2 if the patient had dextrocardia?

V2 and V4

V3 should be placed halfway between which two leads?

Midaxillary

V6 is placed along the same horizontal plane as V4 and on the _____ line.
(Hint: MAL)

Junctional Rhythm

The presence of an inverted or absent P wave indicates what type of arrhythmia?
(Hint: 2 words)

1500 mm

1 minute of an EKG strip is equivalent to how many millimeters in length?

QT Interval

A full cycle of Ventricles in action is shown as what on the EKG tracing

Angina

What is a more medically correct term for chest pain?

True

True or False?
Systemic circulation refers to the part of the circulatory system in which the blood leaves the heart, services the body's cells, and then re-enters the heart.

ST Segment

When the Ventricles remain depolarized (or contracted), what is shown on the EKG tracing?

60 and 100

The normal human heart rate is between ___ and ___ bpm.

Ischemia

An Inverted T Wave is an indicator for what type of arrhythmia?

Ventricular Rate

The distance between R wave to R wave can be used to calculate what kind of rate? (2 words)
Equation = 1500 / (distance b/w R waves)(# of boxes b/w R waves)
OR
300 / # of big boxes b/w R waves

Sinus Tachycardia

What arrhythmia is associate with having a heart rate of over 100/min? (2 words)

Alveoli

Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide exchange takes place in the _____ of the lungs.

Baseline

When 4 chambers of the heart are at rest, what is shown on the EKG tracing?

Myocardial Infarction

An Elevated ST Segment is an indicator for what type of arrhythmia?

T Wave

When the Ventricles repolarize (or are at rest), what is shown on the EKG tracing?

Sinus Bradycardia

What arrhythmia is associated with having a heart rate of under 60/min? (2 words)

Augmented Voltage

What does the aV in such leads as aVR, aVL and aVF stand for?

12

What is the standard number of leads in EKG tracing?

SA Node

When the heart is in a Diastolic State, what pacemaker releases an electrical impulse?

Arteries

What blood vessels contain a pulse?

PR Interval

A full cycle of Atria in action is shown as what on the EKG tracing?

Diastolic

When using a Sphygmomanometer (Blood Pressure Cuff) to measure blood pressure, the LAST audible thump when listening to the brachial artery with a Stethoscope denotes what kind of pressure?

120/70

The average normal blood pressure is around ___/___.

Radial Artery

What are you feeling for in a patient's wrist to find out their heart rate?

Myocardial Infarction

In cardiology, what does M.I. stand for?

False

True or False?
Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSR) is between 70/min and 120/min.

Bundle of His

What is missing in this outline of the Cardiac Conduction System?
1) SA Node
2) Internodal Circuit
3) AV Node
4) ______
5) Bundle Branches (Left/Right)
6) Purkinje Fibers

Left Ventricle

What chamber of the heart has the thickest myocardium?

False

True or False?
A patient that has fallen asleep will interfere with EKG testing.

True

True or False?
A Q wave is always negative.

Atrial Flutter

What arrhythmia is associated with sawtooth waves between QRS complexes?

Fourth

The Angle of Louis provides the REFERENCE for finding which intercostal space? (Write out the number)

Spike

When an Artificial Atrial Pacemaker is captured on EKG tracing, there is a _____ followed by a QRS complex.

Potassium

If U waves are shown on EKG tracing, what type of vitamin deficiency is present?

Semi-Fowler's Position

A patient undergoing an EKG that begins to have a shortness of breath should be moved to what position? High-Fowler's, Fowler's, or Semi-Fowler's position?