Stethoscopes

A tool used to auscultate, that is listen, sounds.

I have a stethoscope.  And I use it multiple times a shift during work.  Listening to lung sounds, heart sounds, abdominal sounds... and every know and then, I even listen to arterial blood flow.

What's interesting about a stethoscope, is that most people think about a device that has two ear pieces, at the end of metal curves, placed in the ears, which is attached to a plastic or rubber tube(s), ending in another metal device, which has yet another piece of plastic or rubber.

Have you ever used a broom handle as a stethoscope?

Everyone has two, by the way.  They are called ears!  Cupping one's ears with their hands, to focus sound, placing you ear on a wall to listen to a neighbor or the chest of a family member...

The true purpose of a stethoscope, is to eliminate clutter.  It is an extension of a human ear, in that the mechanics are the same,.  Yet it focuses sounds, and eliminates all of the background noise.  Ever tried to talk to someone using a stethoscope?  They usually pull one of the ear pieces out and ask 'What?'  Either that or they hold up the end and ask the same question.

Sometimes focus is needed.  Sometimes it is not.

Today, I did not focus on the landscapers cutting the grass.  Tonight, I focused on the birds chirping and singing.  Tomorrow, I will focus on others... both on my ride, and then at work.

And the broom handle, go ask a mechanic!