How do you carry your stethoscope?

How do you carry your stethoscope?

  • Around neck

    Votes: 49 42.6%
  • In pocket

    Votes: 32 27.8%
  • In jump bag

    Votes: 22 19.1%
  • Don't carry

    Votes: 12 10.4%

  • Total voters
    115

medic417

The Truth Provider
5,104
3
38
Well tell us how.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Shishkabob

Forum Chief
8,264
32
48
It spends the vast majority of its time on my rearview mirror.


When I go in to clinicals, it goes around the neck until needed. Sure, there are pockets, but at some of our locations we're required to wear scrubs which have no pockets, soo.....
 

TransportJockey

Forum Chief
8,623
1,675
113
Usually around my neck or stashed in a thigh pocket
 

daedalus

Forum Deputy Chief
1,784
1
0
It spends the vast majority of its time on my rearview mirror.


When I go in to clinicals, it goes around the neck until needed. Sure, there are pockets, but at some of our locations we're required to wear scrubs which have no pockets, soo.....

Dont do that! I was told that sun exposure causes cracking in the the tubing and that would suck if you have a nice stethoscope.

Mine is in my clipboard or on the back of the gurney usually, sometimes around my neck.
 

Epi-do

I see dead people
1,947
9
38
Mine is tossed into the truck, and then I put it around my neck on the way to a call. It stays there while onscene, unless I am using it to evaluate the patient. Once we are in the back of the truck, it gets tossed on the bench seat again until I need to use it.

I used to keep it in a pocket, way back when I started all of this, but haven't done that for a long time.
 

Scout

Para-Noid
576
2
18
In the bag,

And the person who said dont carry, do we not use it or have we a caddy?
 

MSDeltaFlt

RRT/NRP
1,422
35
48
This is liable to rub some folks the wrong way. But I wholeheartedly believe that any patient care provider (regardless of the level) that uses a stethescope and doesn't have it within easy reach, is a provider who is lacking. I keep mine on my person; either around my neck or in my pocket.
 

EMT11KDL

Forum Asst. Chief
964
76
28
usually in my bag, sometimes in my pocket.... the only time i ever put it around my neck is when i am with the patient and i just listened to BS or BP...
 

EMSLaw

Legal Beagle
1,004
4
38
Around my neck. If I'm wearing a jacket, then in the jacket pocket. It annoys me to have it in my pants cargo pocket.

So, does wearing your steth around your neck make you a whacker? Or is it worse to have one of those spiffy, hip little belt thingies that I've seen. ;)
 

wvditchdoc

Forum Crew Member
50
0
0
I do about 75-80% around my neck.
 

wvditchdoc

Forum Crew Member
50
0
0
Around my neck. If I'm wearing a jacket, then in the jacket pocket. It annoys me to have it in my pants cargo pocket.

So, does wearing your steth around your neck make you a whacker? Or is it worse to have one of those spiffy, hip little belt thingies that I've seen. ;)

LOL, I think the hip holster thing makes it worse. Course no worse than wearing your scope around your neck for no reason (not going to a call or not working).
 

VentMedic

Forum Chief
5,923
1
0
First, don't expose a valuable piece of equipment to direct sunlight.

Second, avoid carrying it around your neck after you have examined a patient. Anybody remember the recent thread about what bugs are on stethoscopes? Several EMT(P)s have contracted some nasty infections in that area. You may have a little pimple or scape/scratch on your neck which could be just enough of a break in the skin to allow you to be exposed to some bacteria. Also, that area of your body probably won't get washed until you take a shower which is a nasty accumulation of a day's work.
 

Mountain Res-Q

Forum Deputy Chief
1,757
1
0
When working ambo...

In a pocket or my backpack (12 hours of supplys) until the first call, then it comes out, is used, and (for better or worse) gets stored in the easiest place to get it out of my way, whether that be around the neck or on a seat. Once the call is over, it finds it's way to a hook in the front of the rig, where it stays until the next call...

I WILL NOT carry it arround my neck from start to finish of the shift... the sign of a little whacker IMAO; a "look at me" mentality...
 

EMTinNEPA

Guess who's back...
894
2
16
During patient care, I keep it around my neck when not in use. On the way to/from a call, it's either slung through the "oh s***" handle in the cab or draped over one of the O2 trees in the back.
 

citizensoldierny

Forum Captain
293
0
16
Dont do that! I was told that sun exposure causes cracking in the the tubing and that would suck if you have a nice stethoscope.

Mine is in my clipboard or on the back of the gurney usually, sometimes around my neck.

+1, left my littmann in my car while deployed and after a year of heating and cooling the tubing was shot. It was discolored and had a little crack in the rubber that after a month worked it's way to torn in two.
 
OP
OP
medic417

medic417

The Truth Provider
5,104
3
38
Have you considered how easy for you to be pulled down by a patient if it is around your neck? Before you say that never happens, I will just say yes it has and I had to get the patient off the person it happened to. If you want it on your neck allow the ear pieces to hold it there and put the bell in a shirt pocket. Then if they grab it, it just pulls away.
 

medicdan

Forum Deputy Chief
Premium Member
2,494
19
38
Maybe its just me, but around here, it is seen as a huge faux pas for EMTs to walk around (or into the ER) with their scope around their neck. If, so they are seen as either whackers or unclear about their job. With that said, it is expected that EMTs have access to their scope at all times.

With that said, I keep mine in a cargo pocket at all times when at work (because more then likely, I will forget to grab it when I leave the truck). On calls, I pull it out, and it lives around my neck or on the back of the stretcher. If I am inside a home, or facility, I will get a pressure/LS on scene, then another one or two en route.

I choose not to use the scopes provided by the company, on the truck. I tend to describe them as "fisher price"-- in quality and cleanliness. I know mine, how it sounds, and its cleaning record. I dont really think much about it-- it works, and I appreciate it, but I dont obsess over it.
 

flhtci01

Forum Captain
319
0
0
Carry it in my left thigh pocket.

We we taught not to carry it around our necks and caught hell if we did. As Vent mentioned the back of the neck is not the cleanest especially when going from patient to patient.
 

Level1pedstech

Forum Captain
474
2
0
I will update a previous post about wearing your stethoscope around your neck in the ER

ER Tech or visiting EMT with stethoscope around neck=Tool.
 
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