The role of the Cardiac Physiologist in the Cardiac Catheter Theatre is varied, working as part of a large, multi disciplinary team including Doctors, Radiographers and Nurses.
The Cardiac Physiologists are responsible for the setting up and calibration of the sterile hemodynamic pressure monitoring equipment used during the procedure. They then monitor the patients during diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures, relaying changes in blood pressure and heart rhythm to the operator.
The team is also responsible for the maintenance, set up and operation of a number of other pieces of equipment used during these procedures, e.g. RADI pressure monitoring equipment, 3 blood gas analysers and several Intra-Aortic balloon pumps that are shared with the Perfusion Department.
During each case, the Physiologist is responsible for data entry (including drugs, equipment, etc) into the hemodynamic monitoring system. Then, at the end of each case and when all necessary calculations have been made, they generate a report for the permanent patient record.
Physiologists are involved with other highly specialised procedures that take place in the cardiac catheter theatre, including:
- Electrophysiology studies – patients with cardiac arrhythmias are studied and ablated using RF energy or Cryo technology
- Complex Pacemaker implantation – in patients with heart failure and/or life threatening cardiac arrhythmias.
