Here at The Vital Signs Foundation (VSF) we get asked all sorts of questions about what will happen when you attend one of our screenings
To calm any nerves and put your minds at rest here’s a short explanation to show you how simple it is!
On your arrival at the screening you will be greeted by one of us and asked to fill in a simple form giving basic details about you and your medical history.
We have paramedics with us on the day who take your blood pressure and then provide you with some basic life support training – about 10 minutes in all.
You’ll then be greeted by one of our specialist physiologists and taken into a private room where an ECG will take place. You’ll be asked to undress to the waist and women will put on a hospital gown. The Electrocardiogram (ECG) looks at the electrical conduction pathways within the heart. Small stickers known as electrodes are placed on your chest and the wires connect to an ECG machine whilst you lie still. A printout of the heart’s electrical activity is then looked at by the cardiologist and discussed with you. This test is painless and takes only a few minutes to perform.
The consultant may want you to have an Echocardiogram (Echo). This is an ultrasound test (such as offered to pregnant women) which looks at the structure of the heart and the pumping function of the heart. From the information provided on screen, measurements are taken which give a guide to muscle thickness and size of the chambers of the heart. Again, this test is painless and takes approximately 20-30 minutes to perform.
Have a look at the photos below to see how simple it really is.
