Page 114 - Alaska A & P Primer

(the instrument that generates an ECG) uses 3, 5, or 12 leads. The greater the number of leads an electrocardiograph uses, the more information the ECG provides. The term “lead” may be used to refer to the cable from the electrode to the electrical recorder, but it typi- cally describes the voltage difference between two of the electrodes. The 12-lead electrocar- diograph uses 10 electrodes placed in standard locations on the patient’s skin.
This diagram correlates an ECG tracing with the electrical and mechanical events of a heart contraction. Each segment of an ECG tracing corresponds to one event in t he car- diac cycle.
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State of Alaska EMS Education Primer - 2016
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