EKGs in the ER

When you go to the ER with chest pain, you enter a generally well-functioning system that prioritizes you. You will almost always have an EKG done within 10 minutes. This is not a guarantee, but it’s a standard metric that most emergency departments strive to meet.

So, when you present at triage, you’ll likely be escorted to a private-enough area where a nurse or technician will perform the EKG. If the department is busy, you may then be sent back to the waiting room until a provider can speak with you or an actual treatment room becomes available. If you’re fortunate enough to be placed directly into a room, you might still wait a while for the EKG results or for a provider to discuss them with you.

It’s important to understand that most ERs have systems in place so that once an EKG is done, a physician reviews it very soon afterward. The tracing appears in your electronic medical record, and a physical copy is also delivered to a doctor. What this means in practical terms is: if no one rushes back to talk to you immediately—if staff aren’t urgently running into your room—the EKG is likely not very concerning.

There are no guarantees; nothing is 100%. But the chances are very high that if your EKG has been completed and another 15-20 minutes pass without anyone acting alarmed, you do not have an immediately life-threatening problem, at least not something that can be diagnosed on an EKG.

Because nothing is 100% and things occasionally fall through the cracks, it’s perfectly reasonable to advocate for yourself and simply ask, “Has a doctor looked at my EKG yet?” Sometimes a tech leaves the EKG on a physician’s desk not realizing that the doctor is tied up with a critical patient and won’t return for a while. Politely inquiring to advocate on your own behalf is smart.

Once a staff member confirms that a physician has actually reviewed your EKG, you can be relieved that no one is rushing around rather than annoyed that no one is.