# Hard at Hearing



## EMTRabbit (Jun 15, 2010)

What stethoscope would be good?

Having a hard time picking up the pulse with the training scopes the course provided. Instructor said i should invest in my own. Since I blast music through headphones kinda hard of hearing

Any suggestions?


----------



## MMiz (Jun 15, 2010)

This has been posted a million times, so a search really would best serve you.

I think that many new EMTs are too quick to go out and buy the latest gear instead of spending time honing their skills.  Hearing sounds through a stethoscope is just as much about skill as it is equipment.  I suggest investing in a solid stethoscope but also practicing listening and identifying sounds.

Good luck!


----------



## mcdonl (Jun 16, 2010)

*For me it is lack of confidence more than hearing...*



MMiz said:


> I think that many new EMTs are too quick to go out and buy the latest gear instead of spending time honing their skills.  Hearing sounds through a stethoscope is just as much about skill as it is equipment.  I suggest investing in a solid stethoscope but also practicing listening and identifying sounds.



For me, it is a lack of confidence. Just about everytime I take a BP I end up thinking I am only watching the bouncing of the needle, and that I dont really hear it... but... when hooked the monitor the pt is slightly higher, as our lifepack seems to be calibrated in such a way that the results are slightly higher and when the trend stays the same and the pt is hooked up to a bp machine at the hospital it always seems to be right on with what I got, even though I never feel like I get a good BP.

Not sure if you may be having the same type of problem OP, but thats what is happening to me.


----------



## SanDiegoEmt7 (Jun 16, 2010)

A lack of confidence when taking a BP?


----------

