Stethoscopes

My new stethoscope came in the mail yesterday. It is a Littmann Cardiology III. Navy Blue 27" Paid $116 for it, plus $9.95 postage.

I bought it because as I have related, I have found myself checking the decreased box under lung sounds on an increasing number of patients lately. I have been putting ear wax remover in my ears the past several nights, and in the shower, squirting warm water in my ears with a syringe. I hope the new scope does the trick.

My first stethoscope was a Sprague that I paid probably $12 for in my first EMT class in 1989. I can remember how excited I was to get it. I also bought a BP cuff and practiced on everyone I knew. Having my own stethescope meant I was really a medical person now. I was on my way to being a healer. I could place it against someone's chest and hear them breathe, hear their heart beat.

But even then, I had trouble with lung sounds. Some are obvious, others you really have to listen to. I bought a tape called lung sounds. You played the tape and pressed your stethoscope against the stereo's speakers and tried to learn what the sounds were. It was hard.

I soon decided I needed a better stethoscope if I was going to be able to do a professional job. My old teacher had said there were two kinds of scopes -- short ones and long ones. The short one was better because it kept you closer to the patient. So I bought that one -- a short Littmann Cardiology II. I was working as an EMT now and it didn't take me long to realize why most of the people I worked with opted for the longer scope. There were some patients you didn't really want to be that close too. Call me uncaring, but a fundamental tenet of EMS is scene safety, and when it comes to gnarly patients, the prudent, the safest bet is to have the longer scope. (Unless you wants bugs falling on you.)

That stethoscope lasted me a number of years, then one day it was gone. I don't remember if I left it somewhere or if it was stolen. I just couldn't find it anywhere. Not in my car, not in my home, not in any of the ambulances, not at the base. Vanished.

I bought another Littmann -- this one the long one. That scope lasted me until about three years ago, when it was stolen. I remembered putting it on the dash at the hospital and when I came out of the hospital, it was gone. A clear cut case of theft.

For the last three years I have been using (off and on) a stethoscope I won in a contest. I don't even know what kind it is -- it is better than the cheap $5 stethescopes the ambulance service provides, but no where near a Littmman. I just didn't feel like laying out another $125 plus. Many times I will misplace the scope and then use the ambulance scopes. I can hear a blood pressure okay. I can verify lung sounds after an intubation. I just can't hear lung sounds to well.

Hopefully, with the ear wax removal treatments and the new Littmann, it will be a new day. If not, I may have to visit an ear doctor.

***

Here's where I bought my scope:

Stethoscopes

Here's a web site on the history of the stethoscope:

History

Here's a web site for lung sounds

Lung Sounds


***

I think wheezing, crackles, and his cousin rhonci are afraid of my new Littmann, as eight and a half hours have gone by without a call. In the meantime, I sit hear sufing the net. Just got this EMS joke from a friend:

Due to a power outage, only one paramedic responded to the call.

The house was very, very dark, so the paramedic asked Kathleen, a 3-year old girl, to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so he could see while he helped deliver the baby. Very diligently Kathleen did as she was asked.

Her mother Heidi pushed and pushed, and after a little while Connor was born. The paramedic lifted him by his little feet and spanked him on his bottom. Connor began to cry. The paramedic then thanked Kathleen for her help and asked the wide-eyed 3-year-old what she thought about what she had just witnessed.

Kathleen quickly responded, "He shouldn't have crawled in there in the first place. Smack his ass again."

***

Somewhere someone must have some fine crackles starting to percolate.

***

Not a call. Littmann undefeated in debut.