Trick of the Trade: Getting an EKG on Chewbacca

Posted by Michelle Lin, MD on Feb 02, 2011

Patients with a hairy chest may require little patches of hair to be shaved when applying EKG leads. This allows the leads to stick firmly to the chest. Loose leads will result in either an artifactual signal or no signal at all on the EKG machine.

How can you obtain an EKG without shaving little patches on the patient’s chest?

Trick of the Trade

Cover EKG leads with damp gauze

Water maximizes the contact surface area between the EKG lead and the patient’s skin. The water easily conducts the cardiac electrical signal.

Generously soak gauze with water.
Apply gauze over each EKG lead where it contacts hairy skin.

Thanks to Dr. Gemma Morabito from Rome, Italy for telling me about this trick. Keep a lookout for more of Dr. Morabito’s tricks on her Italian EM website, MedEmIt (http://www.medicinadurgenza.com/).

Reference: ELETTROCARDIOGRAMMA: COME FARLO in PAZIENTI PELOSI SENZA LA TRICOTOMIA?

Author information

Michelle Lin, MD

ALiEM Founder and CEO
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco

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Tags: ECG, Tricks of the Trade