StripTease is not intended to be a text, so much as a venue to test your rapid interpretation, and a forum to discuss. The interpretations and discussions assume a fairly high level of EKG knowledge, and if you are unsure of technical terms, common acronyms and abbreviations, or physician/senior medic-level 12-lead EKG theory and interpretation you may miss a beat now and then (no pun intended).
Have no fear: there are a myriad truly excellent online resources, not to mention some incredible books. I include only a few favorites here- not necessarily the best ones, but a damn good start.
Online Resources:
Text-style reference
ECGpedia : nice wiki-format breakdown of all things EKG. stands alone as a text.
Life in the Fast Lane : online mixed resources for EKG learning and case-based practice.
Utah ECG: Another reference with lots of examples.
Case-based reference with subject-indexed cases
Harvard Wave-Maven : case-based EKGs with clinical correlation and some quiz questions. My favorite place to run through 12Ls and interpretations. Can search by diagnosis and restrict to certain difficulty levels.
EMS 12 Lead : case-based high-end 12 lead interpretation (not just for medics, you snooty-ass MDs). Good index to learn specific topics.
Dr. Smith’s ECG Blog: another case-based high-end 12L site. Scroll down to the bottom right of the page and look for ‘labels’ to see great discussions of specific findings.
Dr. Ken Grauer’s ECG blog: yet another one. Scroll down and look on the right for the subject-specific cases.
Recommended Books:
Basic Arrhythmias, Walraven : For me it was a critical stepping stone to getting fast. Has hundreds of strips grouped to build fluency and speed. Pricey, so buy a used copy or older edition. Note these are no harder than two-star strips on this site, and the vast majority would be one-star, so not a great book if you are already crushing StripTease.
ECG’s for the Emergency Physician 1, Mattu, Brady : The first epic volume. Once you have the basics down, buy this and it will make you the 12L king on call.
ECGs for the Emergency Physician 2, Mattu, Brady : Vol 2. It’s that good.
150 ECG Problems, Hampton : A high quality lighter/faster version of the Mattu texts. You will learn far less but its fine for when you’re looking for a quick fix (or for the attention-deficient). More accessible to folks with lesser EKG skills. Similar to Harvard wave-maven, but in a 6×6″ book you can read on the train.
ACLS algorithms and texts (from AHA): useful for translating arrhythmia interpretation to management in the critical care environment.
2010 ECC Highlights (covers updates from 2005, all resuscitation protocols, does not include ACLS algorithms)
Full 2010 ACLS guidelines.
ACLS 2010 visual algorithms (all on one page).
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