Abstract
Abstract—The accurate identifi cation
of lung sounds during chest auscultation
is a skill commonly used by healthcare
clinicians, including paramedics, when
assessing a patient’s respiratory status.
It is a necessary skill, as it enables
confi rmation of a patient’s respiratory
condition and guides the paramedic to
a provisional diagnosis and the imple-
mentation of appropriate management.
The object of this study was to identify
if undergraduate paramedic students
from two Australian universities were
able to interpret a variety of lung sounds
accurately.
Methods—A prospective single-blinded
observational study requiring 96 under-
graduate paramedic students from two
Australian universities to estimate the
lung sounds of six audio fi les.
Results—The fi ndings demonstrated
variable accuracy in lung sound inter-
pretation of the six audio fi les. The lung
sound that contained a wheeze was
most accurately interpreted, whereas
coarse crackles were the least accurately
interpreted. Monash University under-
graduate paramedic students displayed
similar lung sound interpretations to
Charles Sturt University undergraduate
paramedic students.
Conclusion—In this study under-
graduate paramedic students from two
Australian universities were found to
be inaccurate at interpreting a variety
of common lung sounds. The study has
highlighted that a greater emphasis
needs to be given to lung sound inter-
pretation in undergraduate paramedic
education programs.