I have lived in New Orleans for seven years. Each year, toward the end of the summer, we and others in the Gulf Coast region face the threat of hurricane season. New Orleans is always particularly at risk because it is shaped like a bowl. Most of the city is below sea level, walled in and protected by a large system of levees. Thus, if a reasonably large hurricane comes along, it is best for everyone to leave the city. Many people find this silly and refuse to leave the hurricanes always go too far west, or curve east as they approach land. Two days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, I was asked to help with hurricane preparations. I scoffed, made some comment about it going east, and then went along with the preparations anyway. Katrina did turn east at the very last minute, but it was too little and too late.

As Cardiology has evolved during the last ten years, it has developed into many subspecialties: Preventive Cardiology, Coronary Interventional, Vascular Interventional, Heart Failure Specialists and Electrophysiology (EP). In particular, EP has taken on a much larger role than just a subspecialty. This field is growing at a high rate; EP lab staff has less and less time to complete on the job training. The technologists and nurses in the EP lab are viewed as an extension of the physician performing the procedure, and they are all an integral part of the care and treatment of the patients. There have been no formal educational programs or training, except for courses offered by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS; previously known as the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology), in-services offered by medical device companies, and hospital-based educational seminars offered by senior EP techs and nurses.

In the August 2006 issue of EP Lab Digest, Mr. Daniel Dindy, RCIS discusses his experiences in the cath lab and EP lab with back pain and other maladies. I personally relate to just about everything that Mr. Dindy brings up, especially with the long hours and heavy aprons we used to wear. I have been a radiologic tech since 1973. I begin my career as a special procedures tech in a small community hospital. All of our cases were done with the Puck film changer; later on, while at another hospital, I used another version of film changer, the Schonander. These were film magazines that held 2 - 30 films (14 x 14) and had to be hand-carried to a dark room for developing. Each magazine weighed at least 15 pounds when fully loaded. During these cases, I also wore an apron that was at least twice the weight of my current one, perhaps three times heavier.

New Questions:

Check-Off List for Non-Medical Staff

I would love an outline for non-medical staff skills competency check-off list. More and more across the EP world, line access and catheter placement are being performed by non-medical staff. We have been doing this for 2+ years without one.
Peter Uluave, RN/EP tech, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
(To reply to this question, please type Check-Off List in your subject line.)