- The Cardiology Department will hold this course on November 20 and 21 to promote training in the diagnosis and management of heart diseases.
- This is an excellent opportunity for medical and nursing staff, as well as other health professionals, who wish to improve their ability to interpret electrocardiograms.
El Torrejón University Hospital, part of the public network of the Community of Madrid, will hold a Basic Electrocardiography course on November 20 and 21, aimed at health professionals interested in strengthening their knowledge in the interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECG). Cardiology service from the Torrejon center, in collaboration with the Ribera Health Foundation, organizes this training with the aim of improving diagnostic skills and the management of heart diseases. Through This free course, attendees will be able to acquire the basic notions on the principles of ECG and its application in clinical practice. Registration is free and can be carried out by filling out a short form.
The first block of the course will allow you to acquire the basic knowledge necessary to understand how the heart works from an electrical perspective and understand how this activity is translated into the electrocardiogram. In this way, the training will start with an introduction to the basic principles of electrocardiography, reviewing those fundamental aspects of the electrical anatomy of the heart. It will also explain how to carry out the preparation of an electrocardiogram, how to correctly place the electrodes and how to interpret a basic ECG tracing.
Once the language of electrocardiography has been reviewed, normal and abnormal heart rhythms will be studied with a practical approach, which will allow the identification of slow heart rhythms, bradycardia, and accelerated heart rhythms, tachycardia. Through this training, participants will be able to learn to recognize these rhythms in order to understand their clinical importance, as they are indicative of different conditions that may require immediate intervention. In short, thanks to this first block, participants will have a very important basis for interpreting and managing heart rhythm disorders.
The next block of the course will focus on other disorders that occur when the heart's electrical impulses are slowed down or partially blocked, i.e. bradyarrhythmias and heart blocks, distinguishing between bundle branch blocks and different degrees of atrioventricular blocks. These are complex disorders that are essential when establishing an adequate treatment and avoiding complications, so the clinical management of these conditions is very important. To do so, the knowledge acquired will be used through practical cases that will allow what has been learned to be put to the test.
Throughout the first day, the training will continue to address very relevant aspects, such as the diagnosis of ischemia and myocardial injury, which are essential for detecting myocardial infarctions and other conditions related to the lack of blood flow to the heart. Clear signs that are classic indicators of acute myocardial infarction will be explained, such as ST elevation and depression and inverted T waves. This section will provide essential knowledge and skills for those professionals who work in Emergency or Primary Care, since a correct interpretation in these cases can save lives.
The second day of the course will use different clinical cases and practical examples to learn how to identify other alterations in electrocardiograms, such as supraventricular or ventricular tachyarrhythmias, paying special attention to one of the most common, atrial fibrillation. In addition, the appropriate treatment guidelines for each of them will be analyzed. During this section, cases of acute patients and other more serious arrhythmias, such as ventricular tachycardia, will also be studied to learn the different management strategies that should be implemented when detecting these alterations in a critical patient.
This free course, taught by the Cardiology service of the Torrejón University Hospital, is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of doctors, nurses and other health professionals who need to interpret electrocardiograms and make sound clinical decisions in emergency situations or in the regular care of cardiac patients. The content of these training sessions will allow students to acquire the necessary tools to diagnose and manage cardiac rhythm disorders and other cardiovascular problems that may appear in daily practice.