The ABCs of ECGs
1.0 CE Credit Hour / Amanda M. Shelby, RVTg, VTS
Amanda M. Shelby, RVT, VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia)
Like most veterinary professionals, my passion for animals was identified in early childhood. My career took shaped following a summer job at Vanderburgh Humane Society (Evansville, IN) while obtaining my Bachelor of Science at Murray State University in Animal Health Technology/Pre-Vet with a Minor in Equine Science (2006). My foundation in anesthesia began at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine Anesthesia Service. I acquired my veterinary technician specialty certification in anesthesia and analgesia in 2010. From there, I continued to develop as a Clinical Associate in Anesthesia at Louisiana State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Additionally, I served as an adjunctive professor at Baton Rouge Community College, an AVMA accredited veterinary technician program. Returning to my home state of Indiana, I joined Jurox Animal Health, now part of Zoetis, where I served as the Think Anesthesia Content Coordinator until fall of 2023. I maintain my clinical competencies as a relief anesthesia technician at IndyVet Emergency and Specialty Hospital (Indianapolis, IN) and surrounding specialty hospitals and entertain contracts for creating veterinary educational assets, speaking, editing and authorship opportunities. Recently I joined VETgirl as the Senior CE Specialist. My greatest accomplishments are my children, a supportive husband and publications including Small Animal Anesthesia Techniques (Wiley & Blackwell, 2014, 2022). My newest adventure is pursuit of a Master’s in Education (Instructional System's Design) to improve my ability to facilitate the exchange of knowledge in the veterinary profession. I have specific interest in opioid minimal/free pain management, anesthesia for critical patients, emergency and interventional cardiology procedures as well as changing the culture of the veterinary profession towards a sustainable, inclusive career for all. I believe all patients benefit from trained and dedicated anesthetists and through learning we can improve patient outcomes. My professional services include the AVMA Committee Veterinary Technology Education and Activity (CVTEA) as the Industry Representative, NAVAS President-Elect, and service on NAVTA committees.
Overview:
This presentation lays the foundation for optimizing identification of electrocardiographs. The course reviews the application of electrodes to optimize ECG interpretation, estimating heart rates from ECG strips and identification of the correlation between electrical segments of the ECG waveform and myocardial function. Learning these aspects are foundational to recognizing normal and eventually abnormal ECG waveforms.
Learning Objectives:
- Review application and placement of electrodes to generate traditional three leads ECG for arrythmia interpretation.
- Identify normal variations of the p-wave, QRS and t-wave with corresponding mechanical functions of the heart.
- Ability to estimate heart rate with common paper sweep speeds used in clinical veterinary practice.
- Recognize commonly occurring abnormal and normal ECGs experienced in companion animals.
- Review causes for the abnormal ECGs and treatment options.
This course is RACE-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits hours in jurisdictions that accept RACE-approval.