Feature -- by Mark Sproxton

Like a loud, thumping metronome, the steady pounding of feet on a treadmill fills the air. Connected by leads and wires to an electrocardiograph (ECG) machine, the patient smiles as he makes eye contact with the cardiology technologist who carefully monitors the test.

The patient has a history of heart pain, and the cardiologist (a heart doctor) has asked the technologist to run a treadmill test, which is also called a cardiovascular stress test, to monitor how the heart functions under stress. At the same time in another part of the hospital, another cardiology tech is running electrocardiograph tests on patients before they go in for surgery, while another is in the emergency room running tests on another patient's heart, and elsewhere another tech is hooking up a Holter ambulatory monitor that will check another patient's heart over the next 24 hours.

"The old term was ECG (electrocardiograph) technician, but with technological changes, we don't just do ECGs anymore," explained Wendy Wilson, an ECG tech now working as the site co-ordinator for cardio-diagnostics at the Peter Lougheed hospital. Essentially, cardio techs perform several different tests, which also include pacemaker follow up appointments, to provide information on heart disorders to cardiologists who then diagnose any problems.

Providing that information, which may lead to a better life for a patient, is the best part of the work, Wilson said. "You meet a lot of people and you have a real sense of helping someone." That helping goes on at all times too. Cardiology techs work eight hour shifts in a service that provides 24 hour coverage seven days a week. Most cardio techs work in hospitals, although some may perform similar duties in private labs.

The same qualities that draw people to cardiology technology, and most health care positions for that matter, also appealed to Wilson when she first started. "You have to be interested in health care, and people," she said. But dealing with a huge variety of people, and in situations that can be unpleasant and hectic, requires other abilities in addition to compassion and technical competence. "Working in a hospital, you have to be open to a lot of different things," Wilson said. "And because (techs) are in the emergency room a lot and are exposed to a lot of crisis situations, you can't faint at the sight of blood."

But operating and trouble shooting the equipment that produces those pieces of paper with zig zag lines, for example, isn't necessarily the order of the day. Beginning work in the morning, a tech would prepare the equipment required for the day and then perform ECGs on patients in intensive care, then perform similar tests on patients awaiting surgery, and then move onto conducting stress tests or working with Holter monitors and patients. "Things are always changing," explained Wilson. "There are definitely times when things can be very busy, or quite quiet. And there is a lot of team work with all levels of health care professionals. This is not something you can work on as an individual."

A two year diploma course offered by the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) is expected to be required for cardiology techs by 2001. The course is offered via correspondence. Upon completion, aspiring techs must then apply to a hospital approved to provide technical training and work about 2000 hours in a two-year period prior to writing Canadian registration exams, Wilson said. Those considering this career should ensure they have at least a high school diploma with good marks in the Grade 12 science courses. In Calgary, a cardio tech trainee will earn around $12 and hour, and then move up to $15-$20 an hour with registration and experience.