How Do You Read An Abnormal EKG?
Electrocardiograms, called EKGs or ECGs, are printed graphs of a patient’s heartbeat. They represent the contraction and relaxation of the atria and ventricles. If an abnormal condition is present, it will show in the EKG. An EKG should be read by a licensed professional, but for people who have access to their graph, a basic method is used to read abnormal results. View the components of the graph. In the image above, several parts of the graph are highlighted, but the main part used in an irregular heartbeat rhythm is the R wave. This large spike represents the contraction of the ventricles, or the heartbeat. Count the number of seconds in the EKG strip. Each EKG strip is made up of a square that envelopes tinier squares. One square of the EKG is .20 seconds, so three of these make up one second. Within the larger square are tiny squares that indicate .04 seconds. Five tiny horizontal squares make up .20 seconds of the larger one. You need a full 6 seconds of an EKG strip to calculat
