Robert Vroman, M.Ed., BS NREMT-P

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Lub-Dub What?!–Thoracic Auscultation

You will find the link to the presentation below which includes embedded heart and lung sounds. One thing that should be noted about presenting heart and lung sounds in a large venue is that the subtleties of some of the sounds are lost when they are amplified. To acheive the best representation of the sounds I would suggest listening through headphones. You will likely hear features that you were not able to during the presentation.

For additional information on heart and lung sounds I would reccomend reviewing a comprehensive physical exam text. Two such texts (which I have no affiliation with) are Bates' Guide to Physical Exam and History Taking, and Mosby's Guide to Physical Examination.

There are also several commercial producs such as CDs and the like that have additional sounds. One online resource is the Sound Library at Thinklabs.

As with any physical exam technique the key to recognizing abnormal is to know normal. Therefore I encourage you to auscultate the chest of any patient you encounter.

Be sure to click on the notes tab of the presentation after opening it as I put textual notes for many of the slides.

© Copyright 2010–Robert Vroman, All Rights Reserved