scubatoy Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 I'm currently an EMT-B student and I am having problems hearing the pulse thru my stethoscope when taking blood pressure. Well just in general. I'll be honest, I just have a cheap $15 stethoscope and I do have minimal hearing loss (not near enough to require an aid), so can anyone recommend anything else that may allow me to hear better? Thanks for all of your suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 There are probably a dozen topics in this forum asking the very same question. Try the SEARCH function at the top of the page to find them and benefit from dozens of previous posts. Chances are, if you are in a relatively quiet atmosphere and cannot hear the systole, it's not the stethoscope. You're doing something wrong. Stethoscope quality matters for tricky breath sounds and heart sounds. It's almost a complete non-factor for BPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey519 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Buy yourself a Littman Cardiology Stethoscope. I got one on line from e-bay. Can even hear the pulse w/ ambulance siren on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubatoy Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 Buy yourself a Littman Cardiology Stethoscope. I got one on line from e-bay. Can even hear the pulse w/ ambulance siren on. Thanks Mike! I appreciate your feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCicco345 Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 A quick suggestion. If you have co-workers that don't mind you trying out thier scopes, or maybe find some diffrent ones at the local hospital. Find one that works for you first and then spend the money. Sometimes if you get a really high grade one, you can hear to much, every little background noise, etc. Personally though I also have the littmann cardiology and it works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Does your instructor have a training Stethoscope with 2 sets of ear pieces attached to the bell. If so does the instructor hear pulses at the same time your not hearing, you may have more hearing problems than you realize. If the instructor is also not hearing you may be having positional problems. I have hearing problems both ears with 1 requiring hearing aid that I remove to use Stethoscope. I use $5 to several hundred dollar Stethoscopes, but really for BP all work it's when you start lung, heart and other sounds that you need the more expensive. Also you can get headset Stethoscope that helps cut outside noise. [web:844c78f54a]http://www.buyemp.com/product/1042801.html[/web:844c78f54a] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 [web:c22f5837d5]http://www.macgill.com/productDetail.aspx?catId=7&subcatId=94&product=405[/web:c22f5837d5] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 As Dust said, more than likely it's not a equipment problem, but operator error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 As Dust said, more than likely it's not a equipment problem, but operator error. This is why I definitly recommend working with instructor using training stethoscope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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