16
Alarms
Generated
by
the
CO2
Monitoring
System
The
following
alarms
(No
Breath,
Low
CO2
and
High
CO2)
can
be
generated
by
the
CO2
Module
and
displayed
on
the
II
to
alert
the
user
to
very
abnormal
CO2
conditions.
NOTE: T
he
levels
chosen
for
high
and
low
ETCO2
alarm
trigger
points
are
designed
solely
as
a
backup
for
a
vigilant
user,
to
alert
the
user
if
they
have
inadvertently
failed
to
previously
detect
an
adverse
patient
CO2
level
or
trend.
Consequently,
it
is
imperative
for
the
user
to
understand
that
the
absence
of
a
CO2
alarm
does
not
mean
that
the
patient’s
CO2
is
appropriate
or
acceptable
for
that
patient,
and
the
presence
of
an
alarm
should
not
be
viewed
as
anything
but
an
alert
that
CO2
levels
have
trended
way
beyond
the
normally
expected
CO2
ranges.
As
always,
the
user
is
expected
to
detect
CO2
problems
and
correct
them
long
before
the
alarms
have
been
triggered.
For
all
of
the
CO2
alarms,
there
is
a
startup
delay
of
approximately
5
minutes
during
the
warm
‐
up
period
where
no
alarms
will
sound.
After
warm
‐
up,
there
is
a
delay
before
sounding
the
CO2
alarms
of
approximately
20
seconds
to
allow
the
user
to
detect
and
correct
CO2
conditions
without
the
disturbance
of
the
alarm
actually
sounding
and
also
to
prevent
annoying
inappropriate
alarms
for
transient
events
or
user
initiated
changes
in
CO2
monitoring
setup.
CO2
is
an
important
parameter
to
monitor
for
assessing
the
patient’s
ventilation
and
physiologic
status
during
anesthesia,
and
its
routine
use
is
highly
recommended
by
monitoring
experts.
However,
CO2
monitoring
can
be
somewhat
complex
due
to
its
ability
to
indicate
major
and
minor
problems
with
the
patient’s
breathing,
the
patients
cardiovascular
status,
the
patient’s
metabolic
status,
the
ventilation
setup/equipment
and
user
techniques.
Because
of
this
complexity,
the
user
should
educate
themselves
thoroughly
in
the
CO2
monitoring
procedure
and
the
interpretation
of
the
CO2
values
and
CO2
waveforms.
There
are
many
resources
in
print,
in
video
and
on
the
internet
that
teach
capnography
use
and
interpretation.
The
user
of
the
II
CO2
Module
is
urged
to
avail
themselves
of
these
educational
resources
early
so
that
they
are
educated
in
CO2
monitoring
and
interpretation
before
using
the
device
on
actual
patients.