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Chapter 5 Alarm
When the patient being monitored appears abnormal changes in vital signs, or the monitor itself occurs failure and fails
to monitor the patient, it will remind the medical workers through sound, light, etc.
WARNING
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In any single area (e.g. intensive care unit or cardiac operating room), there is a potential hazard that the
same or similar devices use different alarm preset.
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When the monitor is powered on, the system will check whether the alarm function (audio and light alarms)
is normal.
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When turning on the monitor, the system will send a beep sound and the alarm light flickers once. This
function is used to check whether the alarm function is normal. Therefore, user shall pay attention to these
signs when turning on the device. If the alarm function works abnormally, this monitor can not be used for
patient monitoring, please contact the manufacturer or the maintenance service center.
5.1 Alarm classification
The alarm is classified as physiological alarm, technical alarm and prompt message based on the property of alarms.
1. Physiological alarm
Generally, physiological alarm is activated in the following situations: one of the patient's physiological parameters
exceeds the alarm limits, or the patient appears physiological abnormal, for example, HR exceeding the set limit. The
information of physiological alarm is displayed in physiological alarm area.
2. Technical alarm
Technical alarm represents the alarms activated by abnormal monitoring or monitoring result distortion due to system
failure, such as lead-off or low battery. The information of technical alarm is displayed in technical alarm area.
3. Prompt message
Except the physiological alarm and technical alarm, these messages refer to the displayed information about system
status, which are not involved with patient vital signs. Prompt messages are often displayed in technical alarm area.
Besides, some prompt messages are displayed in parameter area, for example, the messages related to NIBP are
displayed in NIBP area.
5.2 Alarm level
The alarm is classified as high-level alarm, medium-level alarm and low-level alarm according to its severity.
1. High-level alarm
High-level alarm indicates the patient’s life is in danger or the monitor under using has serious problem in technical
respect. It is the most serious alarm.
2. Medium-level alarm
Medium-level alarm means serious warning.
3. Low-level alarm
Low-level alarm is a general warning.
NOTE:
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The level of all technical alarms and prompt messages and some of the physiological alarms are determined
