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The New Your Times

Hazards: Ambulance Stethoscopes May Pose Risk

By ERIC NAGOURNEY

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/eric_nagou

rney/index.html?inline=nyt-per>

Published: March 16, 2009

Stethoscopes carried by ambulance crews are not always cleaned as often

as they should be, and as a result they may be exposing some patients to

drug-resistant bacteria, a new study reports.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/health/17haza.html?_r=1#secondParagra

ph#secondParagraph> Researchers who looked at stethoscopes used by

emergency medical services workers in New Jersey found that a

significant number carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,

bacteria known as MRSA

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/mrsa-infection/overview

..html?inline=nyt-classifier> that are resistant to standard drugs.

Some of the ambulance workers could not recall the last time the

instruments had been cleaned, said the researchers, whose report appears

in the current issue of Prehospital Emergency Care

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a907832861?words=steth

oscopes&hash=2458288973> .

The study's lead author, Dr. Mark A. Merlin of Wood

Medical School, said it was unclear how big a threat MRSA on a

stethoscope posed to a patient. But as incidents of infection by the

bacteria become more common, and with the possibility that it will

become more resistant to antibiotics

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthto

pics/antibiotics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , it is important to

reduce its spread, he said.

Researchers asked ambulance crews arriving at an emergency department

over a 24-hour period to let their stethoscopes be tested. They also

asked when the instruments had last been cleaned.

Of 50 stethoscopes tested, 16 had the bacteria, which a simple alcohol

swab is usually enough to kill, the researchers said. " The concept of

cleaning an entire ambulance after every patient is not practical, " they

wrote. " Cleaning a stethoscope, however, is not labor-intensive, does

not require much time, and does not require any special equipment beyond

currently stocked items. "