The waves, what each one means, and reading rhythms · Week 9
An EKG is a picture of the heart's electrical signal. Each bump is one step of a heartbeat. The atria fire, then a pause, then the ventricles fire and squeeze, then they reset. Click each wave below to see what the heart is doing at that moment.
One heartbeat, wave by wave
Click P, PR, QRS, ST, or T on the tracing (or in the list on the right).
👆 Click a part of the wave to see what the heart is doing.
Reading the rhythm
Compare a normal rhythm with atrial fibrillation. The difference is the spacing and the P waves.
🧮 Finding the rate: count the QRS complexes (the tall spikes) in a 6-second strip, then multiply by 10. That gives you the beats per minute. It is the quick bedside trick, and it still works when the rhythm is irregular, as in AFib.