Cardiovascular Technician

Cardiovascular Technicians help patients and Cardiologists diagnose and treat heart conditions. A Cardiovascular Technician works with a variety of equipment and offer support to patients while creating an inside-out view of the patient’s heart.

A patient with heart problems faces invasive or non-invasive procedures for diagnosis and treatment. Before going under the knife, you — a Cardiovascular Technician — focus on non-invasive ways to diagnose the patient’s condition. This is done using a variety of machines. An ultrasound machine, for example, uses sound waves to create a picture of the heart. This helps diagnose blocked arteries or damaged chambers. Another machine is an EKG, or electrocardiograph. You attach electrodes from the EKG machine to the patient’s chest, arms and legs. The machine will produce a print-out that shows the electrical activity within the heart. With this information, the Doctor can identify abnormal heart rhythms or problems with pacemakers.

Common invasive procedures include angioplasty (clearing a blocked artery), cardio catheters (threading a small tube through the artery to diagnose blockage), stents, and pacemakers. During these procedures, you assist the Doctor by monitoring the patient’s vital signs such as blood oxygen levels, pulse, heartbeat, and blood pressure.

A patient facing these tests and procedures is often scared or very ill and what starts as a non-invasive test to diagnose a problem can quickly turn into a scheduled or even emergency operation. You use your empathy and cardiovascular knowledge to guide them through the process in a calming way.