The Basic Beat

Well, if you’ve gotten this far, you’re ready for some true ECG interpretation! This is where we start looking at what all of those lines mean. We’ll begin with the basic beat, or complex. This is one cycle of the heart represented electrocardiographically. We are going to break down the complex into its component parts. In this section of the book, we will just introduce you to the concepts involved with each of the components. In Section 2 we’ll show you actual examples and their variations as they appear clinically. Let’s get started.