How to Count the Heart Rate on a 6 Second Strip

A six-second electrocardiogram (ECG) strip provides a 2D image of your heart's pumping pattern. When trying to determine your heart rate from a six-second ECG strip, the most important feature to seek out is called the QRS wave. The QRS waves appear as the tallest blips on the ECG strip and should occur at fairly regular intervals. The QRS wave represents the electrical activity occurring in your ventricles, which are the larger chambers of your heart. Another important feature of the ECG strip is the grid lines. Each small box represents 0.04 seconds, while each bold-line, larger box represents 0.2 seconds.

Instructions

    • 1

      Mark off exactly six seconds. The ECG strip has been torn off of a longer piece of paper so it may not demonstrate exactly six seconds. Make a mark to the left of the first full QRS wave, then count 60 of the larger, bold-lined boxes and make another mark.

    • 2

      Count each QRS wave. The first QRS wave you see inside of the six second boundary you made in Step 1 counts as zero.

    • 3

      Multiply the number of QRS waves you found by 10 to get your heart rate in beats per minute, or bpm.