Cumminsdude

Just wondering if there were EMT's, Paramedic, Doctors, Nurses...etc? I'm an EMT-Basic and truly enjoy it. Have a few good stories but I've only been in the EMS about 2 years so I'm sure some of you guys have some pretty interesting stories.

I was interested in buying a Littmann Stethoscope and was wondering what everyone thought was the best one to get? Thanks

Lary Ellis (Top)

I am not an EMS personnel, but I have kept my share of them busy And a few others share as well

magnum

Back in my younger days, late 70's I was an EMT when I worked with the sheriff's department (NoDak). Since then however been out of it too long, whats a stethoscope??? Oh yeah, that cold thing I'm always feeling

MedicShawn

I'm a Medic. Critical Care, Nationally Registered blah blah blah........

rjordan

im a certified first responder, for the fire dept. that is basically EMT basic but not as much into all the medical. have been through the haz-mat training but im not certified in that. i am also certified in the AED (defibrilator) as well as first aid.....duh

MedicShawn

Sorry I missed the important part of the thread. I've been doing this awhile and use my Classic almost exclusively. I own a Cardiology III but I don't see enough diffrence to bother carrying it.

Before you decide I would borrow someone's stethoscope and try it out. You can hear better but in the noisy EMS environment it's kinda relative. With all that extra noise can you really tell a difference between the two? Try wearing the Cardiology around your neck for a shift (if that's how you carry it). The Cardiology is much heavier than the classic. The third thing would be price to replace it if you lose it or it's stolen?

The last thing would be what are you going to use it for primarily? Do you do a bunch of Cardiac transfers, or do you just use it for BP's and Lung sounds? We have automatic BP cuffs, so I primarily just use it for Lungs sounds, and you don't need a great stethoscope for that.

You can PM me if you have any more questions. Shawn

White Ram

Use to be a paramedic now justa FF/EMT.

What MedicShawn said.

steve

kandgo

Retired fire fighter,paramedic, wife is RN she uses the classic two, Just asked her and she really likes it as she can hear better with it than the other brands she has used over the years. They have a great customer service, Goodluck on your new career. Rick

kandgo

Retired fire fighter,emt, wife is RN she uses the classic two, Just asked her and she really likes it as she can hear better with it than the other brands she has used over the years. They have a great customer service, Goodluck on your new career. Rick

12PACK

Isn't it more fun to cause accidents than clean up after them? I don't know why more people don't do this.

My bride is in oncology (OCN RN BSN) but is asleep, so I'll ask her tomorrow, although Shawns answer sounds good to me.

jthorpe

My brother is a Fireman, Mom was a police officer. I was a fireman before going in the military and also EMT. That was years ago. Now I do K9 SAR volunteer. Mostly cadaver.

Cumminsdude

Thanks guys. I'm thinking of the classic II. I work for a transport company and we deal with a lot of cardiac patients and have to do the BP's manually since we dont have an automatic one. Now where I volunteer we have a Zoll so it does the BP, SpO2 and defib all in one little unit. I also dont have very good hearing because of problems as a child so sometimes its hard for me to hear a pulse for a BP or lung sounds. Kinda annoying so thats why I am going to spend the extra money. I plan on going on to Intermediate as soon as I can find someone that offers a summer course locally. I don't see how I can do that with college and work. I would like to become a paramedic but its a lot of work if your just doing it to volunteer mostly so I think I'll eventually get my Critical Care and be good with it.

Just last night I didnt get home until midnight because we had a transfer of a cardiac patient. They had been cardioverted 3 times before we loaded her up. As we were on the way they started to VT on us, on and off a lot so the CC pushed some Lidocaine and started a Lidodrip. Then our rig broke down about 3/4 the way there so we had to call in another one to finish the run.....rough night!

Thanks again. I'll let you know what I get. Any other suggestions would be great.