Cardiac Technologists (Allied Professionals)

The accreditation initiative was launched to ensure safe and professional standards for all cardiac technologists doing electrophysiology and pacing procedures.

Accreditation according to the CASSA standards would mean a Cardiac Technologist has sufficient knowledge and experience to safely perform their duties in the EP lab.

Cardiac Electrophysiology is a super speciality and does not form part of the general Cardiac Technology syllabus in South Africa. This means technologists who perform Electrophysiology procedures need additional training and expertise to safely perform their duties in the EP lab.

Various criteria will be used to assess the knowledge and experience of a cardiac technologist applying for CASSA accreditation.

In order to qualify for accreditation:

• A logbook consisting of at least 150 cases performed as set out below.
• 2 years’ experience working in an EP lab training with a senior EP tech or EP doctor where at least 75% of practice is Electrophysiology related procedures.

or

• Certification with the International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners (IBHRE) in Electrophysiology or any other recognized international EP qualification.

EP technologists who have been working in an EP practice for more than 10 years and who do not have an international qualification as mentioned above, will be asked to hand in 5 different case studies giving a basic overview of their role participating in the case. The CASSA accreditation panel may then ask the applicant some questions about these cases and basic EP lab procedures during an oral questionnaire.

Applicants with less than 10 years’ experience will have to hand in their logbook after completing their training/fellowship and will also have to complete an oral questionnaire about some of the case studies and basic EP lab procedures.

Every candidate applying for accreditation will be peer-reviewed with the help of CASSA exco – Allied Professionals and signed off by the CASSA president.

The logbook should include:

• 150 Invasive EP studies in total
• Must include a total of 100 Radio-frequency ablations performed
• Of the 150 cases, at least
• 30 SVT ablations – AVNRT’s/Accessory pathways (concealed or manifest)
• 15 Typical Flutter ablations
• 30 Complex Tachycardia ablations – Atrial tachycardia/Atypical flutters/VT/PVC’s
• 30 Atrial Fibrillation ablations (PVI’s) – Cryo or RF.
• 30 3D mapping cases self-performed (not by industry representative)

All logbooks must be signed off by the EP physician performing the procedures and training. If the applicant works or completed their training in a lab where all of the necessary logbook procedures are not performed, it should be clearly stated which procedures are not performed in the lab where they work or completed their fellowship.

Due to the selection process and minimum qualification criteria used for the IBHRE exams, any candidate applying for CASSA accreditation that passed an international EP exam like the IBHRE will automatically meet the criteria needed and will only have to supply the necessary certification of their exam to complete accreditation.

CASSA is a non-governing body and accreditation is a voluntary process available to all clinical technologists who are members of CASSA.

Click here for the Logbook example.

Question types to be asked during the interview:

Case related questions will require applicants to have basic knowledge about the procedure performed. They should be familiar with any special requirements about the case during setup, the basic procedure of the diagnostic EPS and pacing protocol, important factors regarding ablation of the specific case in question, and basic knowledge of possible complications and recognition there off.

Basic EP lab procedure questions will cover EP lab setup from the technologist’s perspective and troubleshooting.

Invitation to apply for accreditation:

CASSA hereby formally invites all technologists performing electrophysiology procedures to apply for CASSA accreditation for EP technologists. This accreditation is open to all paid up CASSA members. For those who are not yet CASSA members, please register for membership on https://www.saheart.org before sending in your application.

Please see attached link to article for qualifying criteria and more information regarding the accreditation process: https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAHJ

Please also see attached logbook template that should be used to complete your logbook as per case load seen in the article mentioned above.

Information regarding the accreditation process will be provided once our application is received and processed.

Please send your completed application form, along with supporting documents to Glenda at gnichols603@gmail.com and to Human at humannieuwenhuis@yahoo.com.

IBHRE applicants should attach a clear copy of current certification. Please note that non-IBHRE certified applicants will only be allowed to apply for accreditation until 1st June 2024, after which only certified applicants will be considered.