How to Capture an EKG During a Palpitation Episode

Why "right now" is the only time that counts

A resting EKG taken after a palpitation has passed almost always looks normal, because the moment that would have shown something is already over. The single most useful thing you can do during an episode is capture a rhythm strip while you're still feeling it, not after you've calmed down. This guide walks through how, on whatever device you have on hand.

If you have an Apple Watch

1. Open the ECG app on your Watch as soon as you notice the palpitation.
2. Rest your arm on a table or your lap, and hold your finger on the Digital Crown.
3. Stay still for the full 30-second recording (Apple ECG Support).
4. Once it finishes, the recording (along with Apple's own sinus rhythm classification) is saved to Health, and Palpi imports it automatically.

There's no need to open Palpi first. The app watches for new Watch EKGs and pulls them in on its own, whether you're mid-episode or just doing a daily check-in.

If you have a KardiaMobile

1. Get to your KardiaMobile device (or the case-mounted version, if that's what you have) and open the Kardia app.
2. Follow its normal recording steps, placing your fingers or thumbs on the sensors as instructed.
3. Once you're done, come back to Palpi and attach the reading from the recent-readings step in the episode flow, or as a standalone entry if it wasn't tied to a specific episode.

If you don't have either on hand

If you're near urgent care or an emergency room, the single most useful thing to say is direct: "I'm having palpitations right now, and I need a 12-lead EKG while I'm still symptomatic." Getting the rhythm strip while you're feeling it, rather than after you've been triaged and calmed down, is what makes the recording useful.

If you're not near care and don't have a device, that's fine too. Log what you can: how it felt, roughly how long it lasted, and anything that might have brought it on. That context is still useful for your next appointment, even without a captured strip.

What Palpi does with what you capture

Once an EKG is attached to an episode, whether it's an automatically imported Watch recording, a manually attached KardiaMobile export, or a photographed printout from an ER visit, it becomes part of that episode's record: timeline, guided-entry details, and the EKG together. Over time, every Watch EKG also feeds a running Time in Sinus Rhythm percentage, so you can see the bigger pattern, not just one reading.

None of this is interpreted or diagnosed by the app. It's organized the way a cardiologist actually reviews a palpitations workup, ready to bring to your next visit.