“I’ve met lots of people who’ve said, I’m not good at ECGElectrocardiogram; also called an EKG; a representation of electrical voltage measured across the chest over a period of time. 1. Six Second ECG Guidebook (2012), T Barill, p. 196. I’m not good at cardiac. I’m just not good at the heart.”
Tracy Barill knows that feeling well. And often, when he looks back, it wasn’t always about ability — it was about how the subject was first introduced. If the teaching didn’t fit, it simply didn’t land.
That was exactly his experience with ECG.
Like so many others, Tracy first encountered it through a well-known book that laid out a 14-step ECG system. He studied it, understood it, could even recite it. Yet when he stepped into practice, he quickly realized: there was no way this would work in real life.
In the fast pace of healthcare, you don’t have minutes to work through 14 steps. You have a second, maybe half a second, to glance at a strip and make sense of it. And in that instant, the system broke down.
Tracy tried other approaches — seven steps, eight steps — and found the same problem. He wasn’t alone. Others admitted they defaulted to a crude two-step system: normal or abnormal. If it looked abnormal, they’d pass it along to someone else.
That raised the question: could ECG be distilled into something humans could actually use in real time? Could clinicians become the ones to act on it themselves — not just hand it off?
This is where Tracy’s decades-long journey began. First the 14 steps became 8, then 4. For nearly 20 years, he and his team worked with four steps. It was better, yet still not quite enough. Eventually, through practice, iteration, and listening to learners, those four steps crystallized into three.
Three not because it’s simple or trendy — three because it aligns with how humans actually learn and act under pressure. Three is what fits in the brain and in the moment.
The results speak for themselves. Learners who had taken three or four ECG courses elsewhere — often walking in with frustration and self-doubt — suddenly found clarity. Within the first hour, connections started clicking. What had felt scattered now became usable, meaningful, and actionable.
It’s not just three steps. It’s three steps underpinned by physiology and by the why — so learners not only know what to look for, they know why it matters. That combination makes ECG not just memorable, but internalized.
And the impact extends to instructors too. As one SkillStat team member put it: “The best day I have is when I teach this. It’s not the easiest, yet the impact is undeniable.”
This is the heart of our mission at SkillStat: designing for human capabilityThe ability to effectively apply knowledge and skills in real-world situations, balancing efficiency and safety. Think of capability like a well-tuned engine: it combines knowledge, skill, and contextual awareness to deliver optimal performance in diverse settings.. Not just so learners can pass a course, though they will, but so they can be the person others count on when it matters most.