Just wanted to put this out to try to put myself at ease. I had a medical on Tuesday to start training on the 20th of this month. I am fit and healthy at 39 years old, bmi 24, all tests fine but the doctor said he needed to show my ECG to a cardiologist and he couldnt explain why he needed to do that, he just said its very complex and would get back to me on Thursday but haven't heard anything and the TOC are also chasing it but also no result of this ECG. Its got to the point of getting frustrated because I don't want to miss the boat for this course and I've already left my old job for my dream job essentially. I just want to know why its taking them so long and what if any the problem could be as I've never had any problems with my heart and always exercise, its bugging me now. Has anyone had this problem before??? Many thanks.
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Waiting on ECG?
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We have had a few Drivers get a blip on the ECG and any small variance from 'normal' is taken quite seriously.
I spoke with the lady who took my last one and even she said she takes it and checks but it still needs to be reviewed by the Doc afterwards. Even then any thing out of the ordinary gets bumped to a specialist. This is pretty standard procedure so put yourself at ease.
I'm at that age where most of my medical stuff gets reviewed and the first time it happened did freak me out a little but I've got used to it now and I worry a lot less.
I spoke with the lady who took my last one and even she said she takes it and checks but it still needs to be reviewed by the Doc afterwards. Even then any thing out of the ordinary gets bumped to a specialist. This is pretty standard procedure so put yourself at ease.
I'm at that age where most of my medical stuff gets reviewed and the first time it happened did freak me out a little but I've got used to it now and I worry a lot less.
I wasn't aware ECGs were carried out during a medical. Is this new?
Your heart rate will probably naturally be faster anyway, but an ECG will me measuring the rhythm itself rather than the beats per minute, therefore unless there is an abnormal rhythm, you should be fine. It's expected that ones heart will be a bit faster I'd imagine.
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greatkingrat
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It is only required for drivers over 40, although some TOCs may choose to carry one out on all drivers.
Railway Group Standards said:
Periodics are now every 3yrs if you have an EU license.
I had a similar experience - the ECG machine flagged something up which the doctor said wouldn't have been an issue if she manually examined the readout; however the machine could be quite sensitive and once its flagged up they must send it on to a cardiologist.
Was a nervy weekend awaiting the confirmation that all was well; but everything was fine - that said, the wait wasn't quite as long as you've experienced!
Was a nervy weekend awaiting the confirmation that all was well; but everything was fine - that said, the wait wasn't quite as long as you've experienced!
route:oxford
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How fit are you?
It's not uncommon for super-fit young people to have the oddity on their heart rhythm. My nephew's school undertake ECGs for their pupils who undertake performance sports. His ECG threw up a blip which had to be assessed by a cardiologist before he was allowed to participate. (The ECGs are sponsored by the family of an ex-pupil who dropped dead on the running track).
Have you considered a private appointment with a cardiologist? £400 would give complete peace of mind.
a_c_skinner
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As above rate is not the key thing; there is a small chance that a faster rate will unmask coronary artery insufficiency not obvious at a normal rate, but you'd need to be batting along at 130 plus for it to be likely. If you were in that position you really, really want to find out, but it is as rare as hens teeth in asymptomatic people. Apprehension won't affect the ECG to any appreciable extent. Blood pressure is different.
Andrew
Cheers Andrew, this post is very helpful.
You are aware that 'heart condition' encompasses a hugely varied number of conditions?
Yes I am. Do I really need the caveat 'I'm not a Doctor' or stating the obvious that this is the reason why a RealCardioDoctor*™ would be looking at the results. This would also be very obvious that it would lead to further investigation and then the TOC would be able to decide what action they would take and if that it satisfies the suitability for train driving standards.
To be clear. I am not sure that someone with a heart condition that could lead to them passing out at the controls of the train or a condition that could potentially lead to a heart attack or a condition where sudden pain could cause a distraction or incident ........ etc etc.
Dunno, thought it was all obvious :/
To be clear. I am not sure that someone with a heart condition that could lead to them passing out at the controls of the train or a condition that could potentially lead to a heart attack or a condition where sudden pain could cause a distraction or incident ........ etc etc.
Dunno, thought it was all obvious :/
No, when one makes a huge generalising statement such as the one you did, it is not at all obvious. I don't care about your caveat of not being a doctor, nor am I a doctor. But to make the statement you did tars others in a similar situation for them to infer what they choose. There are a number of other heart conditions which are well controlled without cardiology input, and that don't make doing tasks dangerous. To use the blanket term 'heart condition' in the negative context allows someone 'Googling' to see such statements and envisage them as being completely out of the running.
Think thoughtfully, as opposed to writing such broad statements
It also doesn't mean they can drive a train and in all likely-hood will exclude them from doing so. The railway is very very risk adverse. We currently have 1 off due to a heart attack, one manager back but excluded from driving, one on permanent monitoring and almost lost his job, various Drivers taken off track because of a 'blip' on their ECG's.
Sadly one who had to fight for his job due to his ECG result, went through the process, kept his job and then had a heart attack and died. RIP JB, my thoughts always xx
Anything heart related will be refereed to a specialist.
Fred Dinenage
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Phoenix, i had a similar occurrance. The TOC in question couldn't get a definitive answer from their cardiologist and wouldn't fund further tests. I was obliged to pay privately for the tests they wanted to ensure a clean bill of health, £1500! This involved cardiology consultation, ECG, treadmill ECG and a heart ultrasound. Clean bill of health and i got the job.
I'm not saying you'll need the same spectrum of tests as i did, or indeed any. Worth it in the long run though if you have to go down that route.
The private cardiologist did tell me ( and show me ) his ECG monitor passed my trace as normal immediately. He said the machine the TOC was using was at least 20 years old and was quite scathing about them still using something of that age. As a caveat to that, 6 of us were tested on the same day and 3 of us were found to be " abnormal " thanks to the ZX81 ECG
Best of luck, PM me if you want any more info.
I'm not saying you'll need the same spectrum of tests as i did, or indeed any. Worth it in the long run though if you have to go down that route.
The private cardiologist did tell me ( and show me ) his ECG monitor passed my trace as normal immediately. He said the machine the TOC was using was at least 20 years old and was quite scathing about them still using something of that age. As a caveat to that, 6 of us were tested on the same day and 3 of us were found to be " abnormal " thanks to the ZX81 ECG
Best of luck, PM me if you want any more info.
Its amazing that they still use old, inaccurate equipment for such a test. Today is the 8th day of waiting which is disgusting when the doctor knew my situation that I was due to start the course on the 20th and also said he would call me last Thursday. What also annoys me is that he couldn't give me any reason why he wanted to do this, he just stared at the print out and said it was complicated which is not good enough in my opinion being an experienced doctor. The wait is not a pleasant experience.
Sadly my experience of railway doctors is that they don't treat rail staff as proper patients. They are giving us a medical as they are obliged to by a no doubt quite lucrative contract and anything beyond that is far too much like hard work.
Note to the keyboard warriors, I'm not questioning their abilities as doctors, just their bedside manner appears to vanish with railway medicals.
Took them a team of experts and a week to find your heart
Grats and good luck with the next stage(s)
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