What is the size of your EP lab facility and number of staff members? What is the mix of credentials at your lab?

Our electrophysiology department consists of five dedicated invasive labs and three non-invasive labs. We have a sixth lab, which remains shelled for development at a later date. We have a total of 37 registered nurses, four patient care technicians, two inventory specialists, and a unit secretary on staff. Our nurses come from areas including open-heart recovery, ICU/CCU, the emergency room, and cardiac step-down. Each of them brings a unique skill set. We also have a biomedical engineer on staff, who is responsible for the daily maintenance and troubleshooting of our equipment.

We moved into our new McConnell Heart Hospital at Riverside in July of 2004. We have two private practice physician groups with whom we work: there are a total of five full-time electrophysiologists from MidOhio Cardiology and Vascular Consultants, and three electrophysiologists from Arrhythmia and Cardiovascular Consultants.

When was the EP lab started at your institution?

The EP department was started in 1990 by Dr. Allan Nichols of Arrhythmia and Cardiovascular Consultants at Riverside Methodist Hospital. It consisted of one lab shared with the cardiac catheterization lab, with two nurses working together in the department. Dr. Steven Kalbfleisch was the first MidOhio Cardiology and Cardiovascular Consultants electrophysiologist to join the RMH team in July of 1993. Dr. Kalbfleisch brought with him transvenous defibrillation systems and the ability to perform cardiac ablation therapy. In his first year with Riverside Hospital, volume increased from 200 to over 800 cases annually. The department has since grown in size to five invasive labs, three non-invasive labs, and eight physicians. Lab space is shared between the two physician groups.

What types of procedures are performed at your facility? Approximately how many are performed each week? What complications do you find during these procedures?

On an average day, we perform between 35-40 cases. Annually, we perform over 9,000 procedures, of which 5,800 are invasive. Our non-invasive case mix includes tilt table testing, cardioversions, SAECGs, and ICD checks. On the invasive side, we do quite a number of different procedures. We perform basic EP studies, radiofrequency ablations, and ICD and pacemaker implants, including biventricular devices. We utilize the CARTO (Biosense Webster), LocaLisa, and ESI mapping systems for our more advanced mapping cases. We have several physicians who perform laser lead revisions and extractions using the Spectranetics laser system.

We have a special focus on atrial fibrillation ablations and the technology surrounding this developing area. Dr. Emile Daoud performed the first LASSO mapping catheter guided pulmonary vein isolation procedure in the United States in November of 2000. Our physicians frequently utilize the transseptal approach to both map and ablate left-sided tachycardias.

Our complications rate is well within the accepted national standards.

Who manages your EP lab?

Our department is managed by a department manager, Cathy Thomas, RN and an assistant nurse manager, Becky McHolm, RN, BSN. We also have two clinical leaders, Julie Gurney, RN, BSN and Jay Barnes, RN who manage our daily schedule. Heather Connelly, RN, BSN is our dedicated department clinical educator.