FLATLINE ?

This is a new term I have started to notice , but I am not sure I understand it. However a lot of members are using the term. Ive done a bit of research on the word FLATLINE AND FLATLINED and can only conclude you mean that the heart monitor showed a horizontal line with no beats and that you died and came back to life with a little help from the medics.
Can someone please confirm what the term means? Cheers Peter

11 Comments

You got it

by uvagershwin - 2009-01-06 02:01:45

Yeah, that's what it means. Unless they're using it for other meanings... I've always thought what you wrote. Hope this helps! :)

oh...the joy of words

by Angelie - 2009-01-06 02:01:57

and the MANY meanings.
Flatline definitely could mean asystole (or no heart beat at all on the EKG) in the medical realm.
With that said....
I've also heard it used as slang for "reached it's peak", "hit a brick wall", "stopped abruptly" "severe drop in b/p" so on.

I do hope this helps. It's not much, but it's all I know.

Angelie

yep

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-06 03:01:57

that's my understanding... flat lining is when you have no heartbeat.

Flatline

by maryanne - 2009-01-06 04:01:13

this makes me smile.... when I see things like this know people have watched way to many ER shows....or ER drama shows...."flatline" by definition is when the ECG shows no electrical activity. That can be cause by a sinus arrest,complete heart block., or of course the person has died.....some people with sinus arrythmia can go from a 1 degree AVB to a complete block which of course would show a flat line...but that does not mean they are dead it's just that the monitor is unable to detect a rhythm, this can also be known as a sinus arrest, sinus pause....this can happen up to 6 or more seconds....generally anything greater than 6 seconds needs immediate intervention.

So at the end of the day....flatline..basically means that the ECG is not registering any rhythm and or death has occurred. In the health care field that word is not often used.

I had a flat line

by sand dollar - 2009-01-06 04:01:33

Hi,
In the ER while hooked up to monitors, the lower chamber of my heart stopped, flat line of black, but the upper chambers were still beating. I had a 3rd degree heart block and got a pacemaker the next day. They told me I didn't die and come back as my heart still was pumping but just had a total block. I did see the tape and it was a long black line of no activity. Scary stuff.

Flatline

by bowlrbob - 2009-01-06 06:01:11

Probably all of these answers are correct. In my case and i used the term flat-lined. My heart stopped beating for 20 seconds once and then 22 seconds the next time. I was in the ER at the time. And my wife said did they jump. They were in there with drugs crash carts everything they would need to get me going again. But i fooled them and my heart started back up on it's own. That's when they knew I needed a Pacemaker. and got one the next day. I guess I died sort of but not really as I came back without help. So I did flat-line and it is a scary thought. But with my little metal friend I don't have to worry about it anymore. Bowlrbob

Flatlining

by Jonn - 2009-01-06 08:01:02

Hi all-well to offer a first hand explaination of flat lining here it goes back on December 23, 2007 I began to experience episodes of "winking out" inother words several seconds of going out-not passing out per se (yet) but episodes of not being aware of the things around you. The only way you come to realize this is when you regain your sense of being - as it were. To make a long story short I waited and did nothing. On Christmas Eve day those episodes of unawareness were getting closer together until finally I passed out. In the ER I was monitored and it was recorded that I was flat lining zero heart beats then coming back. Final diagnosis was 3rd degree heart block. I had a p/m implanted 2 days later and never felt better. Insofar as experiencing flatlining - nothing better to freak you out.

A few more alternatives

by ElectricFrank - 2009-01-06 11:01:13

I'm glad maryanne cleared it up. Actually, we all flat line between beats. Under some conditions we just have a longer flat line between beat. I had a situation where the pacemaker was losing ventricular capture for 4 seconds at a time. This wasn't enough to cause me to feel light headed, but if it had been longer like 6+ seconds I sure the situation would have been worse. I didn't see it as "flat lining", just skipped beats.

The real issue is how much is the brain deprived of oxygen and for how long.

For me the term Flat Lining is in the same category as Heart Bock. They are both terms that are picked for their emotional impact. Correct me if I'm wrong Marianne, but I doubt you ever see the term Flat Lined on an ER medical report!

frank

I would think not, Frank

by Angelie - 2009-01-07 09:01:41

It's called sinus pauses if it's just a few seconds, or asystole if there is no rhythm at all.
Flat lined is slang and therefore not usually seen in formal medical record reports.

One of these days, I'm going to post my list of medical record one line mix-ups. It's hilarious.

Angelie

Frank....

by maryanne - 2009-01-07 11:01:23

You would be correct...we never use the term "Flatline" it's sinus arresst, sinus pause, or asytole. Although the ECG strip most certainly would show a "flatline" again it is not a term used. Lay persons do tend to use the word "flatline" interchangeably with sinus pause.

Ah the medical field...it reminds of early days when we use to call an IV solution one thing and then it got changed to another...but the product was the same thing. Just makes matter confusing...so if you have a doctor or a nurse who trained with something being called one thing...and then gets changed to another...you find they will use the old terminology.

The medical profession is full of terminology which is interchangeable..which can make things very confusing at times....

Another famous term: Dead

by ElectricFrank - 2009-01-08 10:01:51

I often hear that a person was dead for several minutes. The definition of death is a bit of a problem these days with all the ways of resuscitation from a situation that would result in death if left long enough.

Of course we could say that we die and come back between every heart beat!!!

frank

You know you're wired when...

Bad hair days can be blamed on your device shorting out.

Member Quotes

In life we have to consider what is more important, the loss of the vanity or the gain of the life.