Cardiac catheterization technician vs echo technician

The differences between cardiac catheterization technicians and echo technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a cardiac catheterization technician and an echo technician. Additionally, an echo technician has an average salary of $75,952, which is higher than the $56,111 average annual salary of a cardiac catheterization technician.

The top three skills for a cardiac catheterization technician include BLS, acls and cath lab. The most important skills for an echo technician are patients, BLS, and echocardiography.

Cardiac catheterization technician vs echo technician overview

	Cardiac Catheterization Technician	Echo Technician
Yearly salary	$56,111	$75,952
Hourly rate	$26.98	$36.52
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	15,949	14,522
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Associate Degree, 54%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

Cardiac catheterization technician vs echo technician salary

Cardiac catheterization technicians and echo technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Cardiac Catheterization Technician	Echo Technician
Average salary	$56,111	$75,952
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $103,000	Between $49,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	-	Springfield, OR
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	University of Maryland Medical System
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between cardiac catheterization technician and echo technician education

There are a few differences between a cardiac catheterization technician and an echo technician in terms of educational background:

	Cardiac Catheterization Technician	Echo Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Associate Degree, 54%
Most common major	Medical Technician	Medical Technician
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Cardiac catheterization technician vs echo technician demographics

Here are the differences between cardiac catheterization technicians' and echo technicians' demographics:

	Cardiac Catheterization Technician	Echo Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0%	Male, 32.4% Female, 67.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 13.9% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 13.9% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between cardiac catheterization technician and echo technician duties and responsibilities

Cardiac catheterization technician example responsibilities.

Assist with placement and manage intra-aortic balloon pumps.
Monitor patient's blood pressure and heart rate with EKG equipment and notify the physician of possible irregularities.
Assist physician during balloon angioplasty by inflating the balloon catheter to the specified atmospheres with a special handheld syringe pump.
Utilize escalation process to notify appropriate staff when communication barriers are occurring between the CMU and nursing unit for arrhythmia notification.
Work at multiple boat launches with the decontamination unit to pressure wash all infest boats and educate boaters.
Perform programmed stimulation, cardioversion, defibrillation and radiofrequency lesion generation.

Echo technician example responsibilities.

Assist with placement and manage intra-aortic balloon pumps.
Perform cardiac defibrillation, CPR, and initiate invasive procedures on patients in cardiac arrest.
Utilize 2D , 3D, m-mode, and color Doppler.
Perform EKG's and treadmill stress testing.
Perform stress echo's, dobutamine stress echo's and bubble studies.
Assist physician with echo stress tests as well as treadmill only studies.

Cardiac catheterization technician vs echo technician skills

Common cardiac catheterization technician skills

BLS, 19%
Acls, 15%
Cath Lab, 10%
RCIS, 9%
Cardiac Catheterization, 9%
Vital Signs, 7%

Common echo technician skills

Patients, 19%
BLS, 10%
Echocardiography, 10%
Echocardiogram, 9%
Patient Care, 8%
Cardiology, 6%

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Cardiac Catheterization Technician
Cardiac Catheterization Technician vs Echo Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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