Temporary cardiac pacing at the bedside.

The equipment required are (1) a bedside cardiac monitor (2) a defibrillator (3) an ECG machine preferably powered by battery (4) three crocodile clips (5) external pulse generator (6) temporary pacing electrodes and (7) a cutdown set. The cutdown set may include various cannulae introducer systems. We are only describing here the system where the cannula supplied with the temporary electrodes are adequate for venepuncture. The femoral, brachial, jugular, and subclavian veins provide various options to allow access for the electrodes to be placed at the ventricular apex. The femoral and brachial veins offer ease of access but are not stable if the patient moves. The jugular and subclavian are both convenient and allow movement but is technically more difficult to cannulate. We use the subclavicular approach to the subclavian vein exclusively even though the potential for pneumothorax, haemothorax and subclavian artery punctures occur now and then. It is only when we fail to cannulate the subclavian that the other options are considered.