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Cardiovascular technician vs echo technician

The differences between cardiovascular 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 cardiovascular technician and an echo technician. Additionally, an echo technician has an average salary of $75,952, which is higher than the $62,986 average annual salary of a cardiovascular technician.

The top three skills for a cardiovascular technician include patients, BLS and patient care. The most important skills for an echo technician are patients, BLS, and echocardiography.

Cardiovascular technician vs echo technician overview

Cardiovascular TechnicianEcho Technician
Yearly salary$62,986$75,952
Hourly rate$30.28$36.52
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs37,03614,522
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 39%Associate Degree, 54%
Average age4545
Years of experience22

What does a cardiovascular technician do?

A cardiovascular technician is responsible for monitoring and administering treatment plans for patients with cardiovascular illnesses. Cardiovascular technicians operate various equipment and machinery to ensure the accuracy of diagnosis and determine the medical procedures to take. They also assist the doctors in performing medical operations, observing the patients' condition, and explaining the test findings to the patients. A cardiovascular technician keeps a record of medical charts for reference, as well as providing progress updates to the doctors and the patients' families.

What does an echo technician do?

An echo technician is responsible for operating specialized equipment to develop ultrasound images of patients' hearts, diagnosing possible illnesses, and monitoring their conditions. Echo technicians carefully explain the process to the patients, assist the physicians in data interpretation, and ensuring that the image document was stored and developed properly for reference. They also inspect the machine and equipment's efficiency for operations and immediately call for repairs for any defects and malfunctions that may cause inaccuracies in the results.

Cardiovascular technician vs echo technician salary

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

Cardiovascular TechnicianEcho Technician
Average salary$62,986$75,952
Salary rangeBetween $43,000 And $91,000Between $49,000 And $117,000
Highest paying CityDavis, CASpringfield, OR
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyHeartland Home Health Inc.University of Maryland Medical System
Best paying industryHealth CareHealth Care

Differences between cardiovascular technician and echo technician education

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

Cardiovascular TechnicianEcho Technician
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 39%Associate Degree, 54%
Most common majorMedical TechnicianMedical Technician
Most common collegeDuke UniversityDuke University

Cardiovascular technician vs echo technician demographics

Here are the differences between cardiovascular technicians' and echo technicians' demographics:

Cardiovascular TechnicianEcho Technician
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 35.5% Female, 64.5%Male, 32.4% Female, 67.6%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage8%8%

Differences between cardiovascular technician and echo technician duties and responsibilities

Cardiovascular technician example responsibilities.

  • Assist with placement and manage intra-aortic balloon pumps.
  • Certify in CPR and ACLS.
  • Scrub and monitor implant and EP Carto and basic ablation procedures.
  • Collect data with a GPS handheld receiver and map it in the office using GIS.
  • Provide continuous ECG and blood pressure monitoring for secondary medical cardiac beds as a cardiopulmonary monitor technician.
  • Perform hook-up and scanning of holter monitors.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Cardiovascular technician vs echo technician skills

Common cardiovascular technician skills
  • Patients, 19%
  • BLS, 12%
  • Patient Care, 10%
  • Acls, 8%
  • Cardiovascular Technologist, 5%
  • Cardiology, 4%
Common echo technician skills
  • Patients, 19%
  • BLS, 10%
  • Echocardiography, 10%
  • Echocardiogram, 9%
  • Patient Care, 8%
  • Cardiology, 6%

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