Ventricular Escape Rhythm (Idioventricular Rhythm) A ventricular escape rhythm is a life-preserving, default cardiac rhythm that emerges when there is failure of higher pacemakers. It occurs when the rate of supraventricular impulses arriving at the ventricles falls below the intrinsic firing rate of the ventricular pacemaker cells. Pacemaker Hierarchy & Intrinsic Rates: · SA Node: 60–100 bpm · AV Node (Junctional): 40–60 bpm · Ventricles: 20–40 bpm Mechanism: When impulses from the SA and AV no