BP Checks

[Guardian]

yea, same with pulse rate and RR...when they count a rate for 15 secs and give you back an odd number. Sorry, but when you multiply something by 4, your going to get an even number.

 

[BAMAMEDIC]

Get a quality stethoscope, this will help a lot. Littman Cardiology III, Master Cardiology or something better than the ones your service or school has.

 

[Ravamedic]

Get a quality stethoscope, this will help a lot. Littman Cardiology III, Master Cardiology or something better than the ones your service or school has.

- you can get a BP with any old stethoscope!

 

[DocHoliday]

Know what to listen for

- you can get a BP with any old stethoscope!

As long as you know what to listen for, I find that you can use any type. Getting a nice steth could help when listening to Lung sounds.

 

[disassociative]

Alot of times I put on the first line for vitals BP: 120/80 blah blah; and if the BP stays around the same--I put WNL and make sure to document in the text that the BP remained stable within (n)mmHg. Remember--if you didnt document it--it didn't happen.

 

[Onceamedic]

I had real trouble hearing the pressure with the stethoscopes at school. I went and got a littman III and still had trouble. The problem - I have narrow ear canals and I was not getting the standard sized ends into my canals properly. The littman came with interchangable tips.. and when I put in the smaller ends - VOILA !!!

Darn - could have saved a hundred bucks and used a cheaper scope - oh well -

 

[RedZone]

The only other thing I can add here is, make sure you bend the ear-pieces of your stethescope forward before putting them in your ears. Our instructor showed us this in my EMT class, but I remember having trouble hearing until I realized I wasn't doing this correctly.