Access to a real working stethoscope growing up

Did you have a parent in the medical field? Parents had a steth to use with a blood pressure cuff. Did you ever get to use it on yourself? Siblings? Friends?

My mother owned several stethoscopes and two blood pressure monitors. She had started nursing school, but never finished, so she started working in the medical instrument sales field. I secretly used her stethoscopes, then one day she discovered me and gave me one, teaching me how to use it properly.

My family used a mercury bp cuff, so when I found a regular one with a stethoscope that no one used for years, I took it for myself; no one paid much attention to it. So I have a great time.

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My paternal grandmother was an RN and one Christmas she bought my dad a real medical-grade stethoscope and a blood pressure cup because my dad had high blood and he wanted to monitor his hypertension.

As the grandkids, we got to "play" with the stethoscope. Well, we didn't really play with it. We listened to each other's heart beats and we learned how to take a blood-pressure reading.

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