EKG Technician Practice Test: Free CET (Certified EKG Technician) Exam Questions

500 practice questions for the Certified EKG Technician (CET) exam, built on the CET test plan. They follow its 3 domains, weighted the way the real exam is: EKG Acquisition (44 of the 100 scored items), Safety, Compliance, and Coordinated Patient Care (32) and EKG Analysis and Interpretation (24), and they cover all 27 tasks under them. Most are moments at the bedside or the treadmill: where V4 goes, what wandering baseline means, when a stress test has to stop, how fast a strip with 4 big boxes between beats is, and whether that PR interval is first-degree block or Wenckebach. Each is tagged to its test plan task, so your score report shows exactly where you miss, and every answer works the math or explains why the best choice is best and names its public source.

The real test: 120 multiple-choice questions (100 scored, 20 unscored pretest) in 2 hours, at your school, a PSI test center or by live remote proctoring. It is scored from 200 to 500 and 390 passes, so there is no fixed percent; you can retest after 30 days, up to 3 attempts. It follows NHA's CET test plan: 3 domains, EKG Acquisition (44 of the 100 scored items), Safety, Compliance, and Coordinated Patient Care (32) and EKG Analysis and Interpretation (24). Our practice test is full length, 100 scored questions plus 20 unscored, split by the test plan's item counts, passing at 70% (70 of 100).

Here: 500 questions. Our own practice questions, built on NHA's CET test plan and written from public sources (the AHA/ACCF/HRS ECG standardization statements, the AHA practice standards for ECG monitoring, the AHA exercise standards and CPR guidelines, the ACC/AHA/HRS rhythm guidelines, the Universal Definition of MI, OSHA, CDC, HHS and MedlinePlus), with every answer's source named. Topics are the 3 domains of the test plan. Not NHA's test questions. Free.

What's on the test

"On the test" is the rough share of a 100-question test for each topic, following the exam's published weights.

10 sample questions

1. A coworker asks you in the break room why the mayor's wife was in for an EKG this morning. What do you say?

   • A.Only that she came in, as long as you leave out her results
   • B.That you can't discuss patients who aren't in your care with them
   • C.Her results, but only if the coworker promises to keep it quiet
   • D.Whatever they ask, since everyone on staff is bound by HIPAA anyway
   Show answer

   B. That you can't discuss patients who aren't in your care with them

   EKG-1 · 1. Safety, Compliance, and Coordinated Patient Care

2. You open a bag of electrodes and the gel on them is dry. What should you do?

   • A.Use them anyway, but press down harder on each one
   • B.Wet them with tap water and use them anyway
   • C.Throw them out and use a fresh, in-date pack
   • D.Add extra tape so they stay on the skin
   Show answer

   C. Throw them out and use a fresh, in-date pack

   EKG-83 · 2. EKG Acquisition

3. On a regular rhythm, there are 4 large boxes between R waves. What is the heart rate?

   • A.60 a minute
   • B.75 a minute
   • C.40 a minute
   • D.100 a minute
   Show answer

   B. 75 a minute

   EKG-193 · 3. EKG Analysis and Interpretation

4. Under HIPAA's minimum necessary standard, how much patient information should you look at in the record before running a routine 12-lead?

   • A.The full chart, so nothing is missed
   • B.Only what you need to do the test
   • C.Everything since the last admission
   • D.Nothing at all, not even the name
   Show answer

   B. Only what you need to do the test

   EKG-2 · 1. Safety, Compliance, and Coordinated Patient Care

5. A lead wire on the EKG cart has a cracked cover with bare wire showing. What is the right move?

   • A.Take it out of service, tag it and get a replacement
   • B.Leave it on the cart so the next tech can decide
   • C.Wrap it in tape and keep using it until the shift ends
   • D.Use it only on patients who are not on the monitor
   Show answer

   A. Take it out of service, tag it and get a replacement

   EKG-84 · 2. EKG Acquisition

6. With 15 small boxes from one R wave to the next on a regular strip, what rate do you get?

   • A.100 a minute
   • B.75 a minute
   • C.125 a minute
   • D.150 a minute
   Show answer

   A. 100 a minute

   EKG-194 · 3. EKG Analysis and Interpretation

7. You need to step away from the EKG cart's computer, which still shows a patient's tracing and chart. What should you do first?

   • A.Log out or lock the screen
   • B.Leave it, since you'll be right back
   • C.Turn the monitor toward the wall
   • D.Ask the patient's visitor to watch it
   Show answer

   A. Log out or lock the screen

   EKG-3 · 1. Safety, Compliance, and Coordinated Patient Care

8. The EKG printout comes out blank, though the screen shows a tracing. What is the likeliest cause?

   • A.The paper speed is set to 25 mm/s for this tracing
   • B.The gain is set at 10 mm/mV instead of 20 mm/mV
   • C.The patient has too much chest hair under the electrodes
   • D.The thermal paper is loaded wrong side up
   Show answer

   D. The thermal paper is loaded wrong side up

   EKG-85 · 2. EKG Acquisition

9. An irregular rhythm has 8 QRS complexes in a 6-second strip. What is the approximate heart rate?

   • A.48 a minute
   • B.100 a minute
   • C.60 a minute
   • D.80 a minute
   Show answer

   D. 80 a minute

   EKG-195 · 3. EKG Analysis and Interpretation

10. A patient asks for a copy of the EKG done in your office last week. Under HIPAA, what right does the patient have?

    • A.Only if their attorney sends the office a formal subpoena
    • B.None, since the tracing belongs to the cardiologist who read it
    • C.Only a verbal summary given by the doctor during a visit
    • D.To get a copy of their own records, usually within 30 days
    Show answer

    D. To get a copy of their own records, usually within 30 days

    EKG-4 · 1. Safety, Compliance, and Coordinated Patient Care

What the study guide does

• Short study rounds and flip cards.
• A practice test built like the real one: 100 questions, 70 to pass.
• Pass Meter: your chance of passing if you sat the test today, worked out from your own answers.
• An explanation for every answer.