ADC Adscope 603

First off, let’s start with the color of this stethoscope my goodness it is so damn beautiful! And just because it’s beautiful and affordable does not mean ADC skipped out on the quality of this stethoscope! The acoustic sounds on this thing are amazing! Literally such a great beautiful quality stethoscope! I couldn’t be any more happier with my purchase! I will definitely be purchasing another ADC stethoscope if I ever need another one.

Love the blue and works just as good as my Littman stethoscope, at half the price.

Muy bueno y de buen calidad.

Great gift for nurses or medical professionals. Solid and good design

Since I'm not a medical professional, this is a review from an "amateur" home user.I'm pregnant with our first child, and very cautious about all the techology used during pregnancy. As a result, we are using a midwife, not having a sonogram, and not using a doppler (the battery-operated device typically used to listen to babies heartbeats when they are in-utero). The midwife has been able to detect the baby's heartbeat since 20 weeks pregnant, using a fetoscope (a specialized stethoscope designed for manual detection of baby heartbeat). However, the fetoscope "cord" is very short, and doesn't reach from my belly to my ears. My husband has been able to hear the baby's heartbeat, but not me.I read a book that said by six months pregnant, you could hear baby's heartbeat using a standard stethoscope, so we ordered this one from Amazon. There was a different brand being sold cheaper, but this was the cheapest one that had great reviews. We used it the minute it arrived, and even though we have never used a stethoscope before and have no medical training, the directions were pretty easy to understand. We found the baby's heartbeat in less than a minute, and I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time! I expect to listen to the heartbeat every few days, since a stethoscope doesn't send any type of "signal" into the uterus, which is what I am trying to avoid. It's really fun to lay quietly and listen to the baby.A few tips for any other amateur users out there who haven't had training on medical use of a stethoscope:The earpiece needs to go into your ears facing a certain direction. If you can't hear anything, flip the earpiece around so the part that was in your right ear instead goes into your left ear, and you should be able to hear.The part that needs to touch your skin is the flat side with the logo on it, not the smaller metal side that has the rubber lip. In the photo of the item, the part that is facing up (the smaller side of the "bell") is how it should look. Apparently the flat side with the logo, that looks like a clear piece of plastic, is called the "diaphragm." That was the part we put against my belly (or against a person's chest) so we could hear.Finally, you will need to lay down on your back (not for long obviously), and be familiar enough with your baby's body inside your belly to figure out where the torso is. Hopefully you have gently pressed around your belly enough to detect where the "feet side" of the body is at any given time, and where the "head/torso" side is. The stethescope needs to be within a few inches of the torso in order to hear the heartbeat. When we put it on the opposite side of my belly, over the feet, we could not hear the heartbeat, just my digestive noises. Once we located the torso (at six months pregnant, shouldn't be too hard to do since it is larger and firmer than anything else, and can be located with gentle pressing), we placed the stethescope over the torso and pressed down slightly. Then it was really easy to hear the heartbeat. It sounds about twice as fast as your own heartbeat, and is so amazing to listen to.As far as the quality of the item, other medical professionals who have reviewed this item are better qualified to answer. We found the earpieces to be tolerable, and the overall feel of the metal and plastic to be medical grade. Nothing felt "cheap" about it, but then again, we have no basis of comparison.We ordered the standard black one. It comes with a little plastic piece to clip on the "y" part where the three cables come together, and the plastic piece has a place to write your name on it so it can be identified. Not a big deal for a home user like us, but helpful for someone in the medical field. It came with two other sizes/shapes of earpieces, which we haven't tried out yet. It also came with one replacement diaphragm.Good luck!

Good performance at a reasonable price

I'm an AEMT in Mobile, Alabama.Coming up as a Basic, of course, I bought a couple of cheapie steths just to get through Labs, Psychomotor and Clinical Rotations. What I found was that a classmate of mine, who is a seasoned medic who had to re-qual after years in the National Guard, had a set similar to (one model below) these in blue. I was actually quite impressed with the difference in of a decent-quality scope and did some research online. When I passed National Registry, I promised to treat myself to a GOOD quality stethoscope and trauma shears.I had my eye on the Littman II, which at the time, was closer to $130. I put some alcohol-swabs, my BP cuff and a pair of my own ear guards in my purse and head to the local scrub and medical supply stores to listen to some scopes. I found the Littman scopes not a whole heck of a lot better than some of the less-known but still good-quality options. Discounting Cardiac scopes (I don't need to hear the difference between Mitral-valve Prolapse and Ventricular Septal Defect, LOL), Sprague scopes (well-priced but the tubing can rub and make it difficult to hear on a moving truck) and anything that looked cheaply made, I narrowed myself down to AdScope, MDF and Kila Labs. Amazon made my choice easier: after tearing apart all of the reviews I settled on this. I couldn't be happier.PROS:-This ADC model scope comes in a nice box, similar to Littman. It came with hard-plastic ear guards (which I immediately replaced with soft rubber) a spare diaphragm and a name plate that snaps over the bifurcation point.-The chestpiece is heavy and of excellent quality and it switched cleanly to the bell setting with a quiet but satisfying "catch" into position. It's solid, brushed-metal so you could easily have it engraved, if desired.-The tubing is thick enough to block out some ambient noise but not so thick as to be inflexible or vulnerable to cracking.-Respiratory sounds in all fields are easy to find and hear, as are the Korotkoff sounds in all orthostatic positions. Apical pulse with the bell is okay too.-The nameplate snap-on is a better anti-theft/identification tool than the "tag type" you see on some models. It's got a space to either write-in or stick a printed label onto and once it's snapped on and glued together, it's not going anywhere unless someone deliberately breaks that puppy off.-Color choices. They're just nice to have. :)CONS:-Heavier chestpeice means it's unbalanced when draped around your neck. That means you have to keep the durn thing tucked pretty firmly into the binaurals to keep it from slipping. Great for ER rotations but not so easy at a MCI MVC.-The "anti-chill" (as is the case with most scopes) doesn't really provide much in the way of anti-chill. What it DOES provide is an area to pay attention to during normal disinfection. This isn't a big deal, just get your fingernail in there while you're using the swab.ALSO OF NOTE:Be careful when gluing on that nameplate. The instructions recommend a drop of Krazy or nail glue, which works great but both glues contain chemicals whose fumes are corrosive to rubber and plastic so make sure you use the tiniest amount possible and get a buddy to hold it still so you can hold the thing in place while it dries so you don't risk rubbing the tubing into the inner sides of the thing. If you get that glue onto the tubing, you could make it brittle in that spot and it may eventually crack.If you're shopping for a gift for a Pre-Med, Nursing or Paramedic student, this is a GREAT buy. The color options, gift box, the fact that it's engravable and the quality make this at the very LEAST, a nicer "back-up" scope than the pitiful ten-dollar "can't hear-ums" to keep in the trauma bag or locker of even the most die-hard Littman fan. And the reasonable price-point means that even if they STILL want to throw away money on a Littman, no one's feelings will be hurt over this one.

Very cute design, works great, used every day at work.