DRG or Littmann

[Dustdevil]

now that is some statement for someone that wants to enhance EMS, if an emt is responding to trauma and ALS are dispached after them, it would be nice to know enroute that the Pt has decreased breath sounds, if the EMT wants to invest let them, it can only do more for them...

You misunderstood me. A cheap stethoscope can do all that for them as well as most Littmanns. Side by side comparisons have shown that to be the case repeatedly. The old addage "you get what you pay for" only holds true to a certain level with stethoscopes. After a point, you're just paying for vanity that cannot be quantified. So personally, I would not buy either one of the scopes he mentioned if I were him. Get the least expensive stethoscope that you can find that has a single tube and a single sided head on it, with soft sealing earpieces. After a few years, when this one wears out, and after you've had plenty of time to try different models in the field, and after you are making good money (okay, maybe that part never comes, lol), then consider replacing it with something that has features you find particularly useful. But as a newbie, you simply don't know, which is understandably why he asked.

If you spend more than $30 bucks on a stethoscope, you're doing it simply for vanity, not because you know you're getting something that works better.

I don't know where exactly you searched for your answers, but it couldn't have been in the forum search function that Bushy was referring to. There is enough advice on stethoscopes in this forum to fill a book.

Good luck!

[Ridryder 911]

Again, it is not ...what you put in your ears, but what is between them, that makes the difference"...

Unless, you can verify, clicks, murmurs, gallops, bruits, crescendo, floppy valves, etc. Anyone paying more than the usual $50 or more is foolish. Auscultating adventitious breath sounds such as rales (crackles), wheezes, etc.. can be heard with a cheap one..

R/r 911

[NREMT-Basic]

I couldnt agree more. The lung sounds that I have been asked to check for at the Basic level so far could pretty much have been heard by putting you ear to the patients chest or back. But I guess that personal space thing is why stethos were invented in the first place: "Excuse me ma'am, may I listen to your chest by laying by ear on it." Thats not gonna get'er done. Often times I have heard Basics or even Medics listen to lung sounds and then report them to ED staff as "junky." So its very true that unless you are listening for finely differentiated sounds, an expensive scope is worthless. I know when my fellow Basic students were told to get them, alot of them came back with the most expensive setup they could find. For most basic auscultations, a good old Littman will work just fine. Ive even been able to get sufficient lung sound definition with the little disposeable ones they keep in the rigs in case you lose or forget yours, though those I think are really intended more for the calls where even listening to breath sounds would get your personal equipment gobbed up. In the end, its a vibrating membrane with sound that travels up a tube, into the ears. Its only need to be so good for BLS assessments.

[Dustdevil]

I would like to add that, no matter what you ultimately order, Allheart.com is indeed a good source. They advertise on this site, so if you see their ad here, click on it to order and you will be helping to support this site, as well as getting a good deal and good service.

You could also consider ordering the Cardiology II copy sold by our friend and fellow forum member at Big Shears. It's an excellent scope. Every bit as good as the original Littman, but for a better price. That way you get a quality scope, get to look cool because people will think it's a Littman, but not have to look like a tool for spending much more money than you should have. And again, you'd be supporting one of our own.

[markdk86]

Thank you all for the extra help. I'm going with the Littmann Classic II S.E. Either one would be a great upgrade but I guess I'm making too big of a deal about this. Go for the one that costs less. Littmanns has always had my trust anyway.