Stethoscopes....

[daedalus]

I hated to say that, I really did. But I cannot make excuses for them any longer.

 

[AJ Hidell]

....I bet your even one of those ****head medics...

Profane personal attacks? Good thing the moderators here don't care.

I know plenty of medics that have been in this career for 20+ years in this area and ARE grateful for the help of basics. And again I credit that to the system I work in.

I do too. But it's not a credit. It's a deficiency. Since your medics never get medic partners, they are grateful for whatever help they can get. But if they spent a few shifts with a real partner, instead of just a helper/driver, they'd never want to work with you again. Bet on it.

Im not saying anything like we are the most awesome EMT-Bs and Is in the country....what I AM saying is that we have great instructors that care about what they do and care about the success of their students as Basics. Not every system has that so you do have basics that just read how to do something in a book and repeat it on a patient. My instructors actually went into depth about processes going on in the body.

That's wonderful for preparing first responders, or EMTs who work a basic-only system. But it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference in your usefulness to a paramedic partner. He's still 100 percent responsible for 100 percent of the care for 100 percent of his patients instead of having a partner to share that responsibility with. A basic is a basic.

Seriously not to be argumentative but is there some source of medics being unsafe out there or do you just feel, like apparently many others, that medics could be better educated.

If you actually read much here, you'll see that those of us who pound on the inadequacies of EMS education consistently do so across the board, sparing no level. I have just as much trouble -- if not more-- with paramedic education as I do with EMT training. Why do you think we are criticizing LA area paramedic schools here in this same thread?

Well than why is 12 lead interpretation out of LA county scope of practice? Trust me, LA county paramedics are idiots. Daniel Freeman is an idiot factory.

The really sad thing is that Freeman is still one of the best medic schools in the area. That's a sad statement on the state of affairs in LA. But I think that much of the problem at Freeman is not as much the school as it is the calibre of student they typically take. Garbage in = garbage out.

 

[daedalus]

I would tend to agree. Any school that lets you strut around in your fire uniform and lets you intern in a system with protocols like LAs is going to suck no matter their other attributes. I would think they would have a better program if they truly brought it under the control of the Geffen School of Medicine (beyond the superficial way they are articulated now) and did their rotations at Westwood where the real teaching hospital is.

Instead the school is in a dumpy abandoned lot in Inglewood (ghetto) far far away from UCLA, where the only association between the two schools is by name, and if you asked a an MD at Westwood what the Freeman school was he would shrug his shoulders.

 

[zzyzx]

I would tend to agree. Any school that lets you strut around in your fire uniform and lets you intern in a system with protocols like LAs is going to suck no matter their other attributes. I would think they would have a better program if they truly brought it under the control of the Geffen School of Medicine (beyond the superficial way they are articulated now) and did their rotations at Westwood where the real teaching hospital is.

Instead the school is in a dumpy abandoned lot in Inglewood (ghetto) far far away from UCLA, where the only association between the two schools is by name, and if you asked a an MD at Westwood what the Freeman school was he would shrug his shoulders.

You are so wrong! Don't judge the school by some of its graduates. Having gone there myself and knowing most of the faculty, I can tell you that it is an xlnt program with a terrific faculty. And yes, I did my clinicals at UCLA also. I understand your frustration with EMS in L.A. County, but please don't make blanket generalizations about a school that you have not attended.

Before going to D.F., I also had a bad image of it because of some of the terrible medics I came across in L.A. As it turned out, going to D.F. was a wonderful experience. The problem is that some (though certainly not all or even most) of the firefighters that are sent their only want to get their medic badge for pay and career advancement. Believe me, the people who run the program hate the state of EMS in L.A. just as much as you do.

 

[willbeflight]

I have the cardiology III and really like it. I have also seen quite a few master classic IIs being used and some littman lightweight s.e.'s

I do like the master classic II in all black, very sharp. But I already have my blue cardiology III which is over qualified, so I'm set.

I have a Littman Cardiology one also. I love mine and for the ones that can't afford a new one, look on ebay.

 

[willbeflight]

That cardiology scope is not going to make up for the lack of cardiac auscultation skills that most paramedics and paramedic educators possess. That cardiology scope is not going to help you go above and beyond. It will not even help you hear heart sounds better, because it is designed to be used by people who have an incredible ear for heart sounds, which you do not. The only man I have ever known who could probably make use of a cardiology stethoscope was my pediatric cardiologist. He is an attending at UCLA in peds and ped cards, and was one of the first pediatric cardiologists in Los Angeles. He uses a Sprague. Yet, he diagnoses VSDs, valve disorders, etc, with uncanny precision and accuracy by auscultation, only to be confirmed later on echocardiography. All his residents with their 100 dollar cardiology stethoscopes still rely on that sonogram to make their diagnoses for them because they lack 45 years of listening to healthy and sick hearts that this man has. This os a forum of ideas and opinions, and everyone is going to be able to post what they want, if you do not like it and have nothing constructive to say (like proof that a cardiology stethoscope positively affects the outcomes for EMS patients), than you can just ignore them.

I may only be a paramedic student here on this forum, but I have five years of healthcare experience in an internal medicine clinic where I have learned a lot about the day to day practice of real medicine. I am telling you that all of my experiences tell me that a cards scope is not needed for prehospital care or even most MDs. I do not care if you decide to use one or not. I could not care less. But if you post something here, expect it to be read and judged by your peers. Iif you do want here other opinions, than this forum is not for you.

OK, I know I am a new paramedic student on here too, and I have ten years of experience in the medical field and have worked as an assistant to four Internal med doctors. I know opinion is opinion as far as things go. I see it like this, why do you have to judge and be an @$$ to people asking about something pretty freaking harmless. If you are gonna throw experience into the mix to make a point, make sure it's more than others!

 

[daedalus]

Some one asked for an opinion, and I gave it to them. They than challenged me so I provided my defense with the facts the way I see them. I left my emotions at the door, which I see that you have not. Leave words like freqkin at the door because otherwise you lose all credability and provide no useful information for then op or other readers.

Xzyx, I will continue to think freeman sucks until proven other wise. The burden of that proof a on them.

 

[willbeflight]

Some one asked for an opinion, and I gave it to them. They than challenged me so I provided my defense with the facts the way I see them. I left my emotions at the door, which I see that you have not. Leave words like freqkin at the door because otherwise you lose all credability and provide no useful information for then op or other readers.

Xzyx, I will continue to think freeman sucks until proven other wise. The burden of that proof a on them.

I did not see where you were challenged by the one you wrote that too. I apoligize if I missed it. With that being said, it just looked like you were judgmental for no reason.

 

[zzyzx]

"Xzyx, I will continue to think freeman sucks until proven other wise. The burden of that proof a on them."

Ok, that's cool. If you ever want me to introduce you to faculty or if you'd like to visit the school, just PM me.

 

[zzyzx]

I had a cheap scope for years until I finally lost it. I'd become a medic at that point, so I decided to get a good scope. I played around with all the scopes at the UCLA med school bookstore and settled on the Master Cardiology III. I felt like it was a huge improvement over what I had, and that I could listen to breath sounds much better. But perhaps I'm fooling myself?

I was just talking to an ER nurse who uses an electronic scope. He swore by it; said with the way it amplifies sounds, it allowed him to get BP's and breath sounds in the back of a noisy ambulance. Anybody have similar experiences with these scopes?

 

[Sasha]

Don't judge the school by some of its graduates.

How are you supposed to judge a school, then, if not by the graduates it turns out?

 

[Shishkabob]

How are you supposed to judge a school, then, if not by the graduates it turns out?

He said some.


As I recall, some female on this forum went to what she considers a medic mill, but hope to stand heads and shoulders above others.

 

[Sasha]

He said some.


As I recall, some female on this forum went to what she considers a medic mill, but hope to stand heads and shoulders above others.

A medic mill does not necessairly make one a bad medic, just makes them have to work harder to become a good medic.

Despite getting my education at a medic mill, I can promise you I will be anything but a mill medic.

 

[medic417]

Started 5-8-09.