1. Serious Cardiac Events.

2. Aims and Objectives.  Review physical situations underpinning serious cardiac abnormalities.  Understand related complications.  Understand common ECG appearances.  Review important actions to undertake in these situations.

3. Acute MI.

4. Actions.  How the patient present?  What difficulties might you have getting ECG?  What would you do?  What treatment / what would happen next?  WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT?

5. Possibly this?

6. What would you do?

7. Or possibly this?

8. What would you do?

9. Could this happen?

10. What would you do?

11. This may be possible:

12. Caution??  Is it really?  Check leads.  Check patient.

13. Usually looks more like this:  Not completely flat baseline.  Stop CPR to re-check rhythm.  Poor prognosis.

14. Sometimes patients feel poorly.

16. Tips.  Learn to recognise basic rhythms.  Learn morphology of acute MI.  Understand process of ischemia.  Treat patient - NOT ECG.  Know when you need help.  Better to get help than to miss something important – always ASK if unsure.

17. Conclusion.  Most common emergencies: –Acute MI. –Rhythm abnormalities:  VF  VT  CHB  Fast AF, flutter, AV nodal tachy, WPW etc  Asystole  Severe bradycardia.