While most hospitals and healthcare facility have a 12-lead ECG available for use in patient monitoring and diagnosis, other facilities can benefit from the technology as well.
This device is often used in clinical trials, in research and for emergency response. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand which patients or which applications are the best match for the system, so they may use it incorrectly or avoid using the device.
Outside of clinical trials, where the 12-lead monitoring can be done to monitor and track cardiac treatments and efficacy. It provides complete data, is highly accurate and also ensures consistency as the same equipment is used within a trial and across trials.
When to Use in Patient Care
In hospitals and patient care facilities, the use of the 12-lead ECG is typically reserved for situations where this is a concern specifically with the functioning of the heart. This includes when STEMI or an ST-elevated myocardial infarction is suspected.
Using this technology, the EMS responders have the ability to correctly assess the condition of the patient if there is a risk of a suspected STEMI. With the use of the 12-lead ECG this can be easily confirmed, giving the first responders the opportunity to route the patient to a hospital with a specialized response unit.
Confirming this also allows the receiving hospital or the EMS professionals to start the appropriate treatment. In most hospitals, there may be a delay until the cardiac team can arrive and this early intervention treatment can be the difference between life and death.
The other benefit is that a patient with symptoms of an acute STEMI can also be evaluated and ruled out as having a heart attack. This also saves time in being able to quickly assess and attempt to diagnose the root cause of the symptoms, rather than wasting time by incorrectly treating an assumed heart attack.