Device Alarm Safety

Many medical devices contain alarms including electrocardiogram machines, pulse devices, and blood pressure monitors. Other devices include bedside telemetry, central station monitors, infusion pumps, and ventilators. These alarm-equipped devices help provide safe care to patients. Alarms can produce similar sounds and can cause confusion. Alarm signals per patient per day can reach several hundred, depending on the unit within the hospital. Most alarms do not require clinical intervention. Clinical personnel can become desensitized and can suffer a type of fatigue. Major patient safety events can occur and the following alarm issues can contribute to the incident  

ECRI Institute continues to report the dangers related to alarm systems. The EDA Manufacturer and User Eacility Device Experience database revealed that more than 550 alarm-related patient deaths were reported between January 2005 and June 2010. Consider the following recommendations aimed at reducing adverse events related to alarms  

Establish a process for safe alarm management and response in high risk areas as identified by the organization. 

Conduct and document an inventory of alarm-equipped medical devices used in high-risk areas and for high-risk clinical conditions. 

---

Alarms with defined operator response Critical alarms Safety instrumented systems Pressure relief devices Blast walls and dikes Deluge systems Flare systems... 

Sufficient warning alarms, safety devices, and interconnections must be incorporated. 

Warning alarms, safety devices, and interconnections are in working order. No such device has been bypassed to keep the plant working. 

Sufficient warning alarms, safety devices, and interconnections must be incorporated and vendor shall demonstrate satisfactory working of all such systems prior to handing over the plant to purchaser. 

Controlled (CN). Has been countered by appropriate design, safety devices, alarm/caution and warning devices, or special automatic/manual procedures. Criticality categories include... 

Alarms should act as early warning devices to anticipate a potentially hazardous situation. Alarms that are essential to safety should be identified and classified separately from process alarms. Redundancy may be required. 

Design and selection philosophy for use of safety devices for pressure relief and alarm. 

The term engineered safety covers the provision in the design of control systems, alarms, trips, pressure-relief devices, automatic shut-down systems, duplication of key equipment services and fire-fighting equipment, sprinkler systems and blast walls, to contain any fire or explosion. 

Miscellaneous household appliances Safety, alarm devices Waste compactors Mechanical performance Aesthetics Durability... 

Senator David Pryor, Democrat from Arkansas who on Tuesday successfully amended a Senate bill to require the Air Force to install alarm systems at all Titan II sites near population centers, said, It s time not just to move ahead with installing the warning devices but to take a critical look at the safety of the entire Titan II system. ... ]... 

Sensors can be used with microprocessors to control automatically and more effectively a wide variety of devices. For example, sensors are used in manufacturing machines and consumer items, such as cars and ovens, as well as in gas safety alarms and medical drug delivery devices for diseases such as diabetes. The growing interest in these sensors stems from the enormous benefits anticipated from the widespread use of sensors and microprocessors for control. Although microprocessors have been extensively developed, sensors have received relatively little attention. As a result, sensor development is expanding rapidly. 

Misprogramming PCA device Failure to clamp or unclamp tubing Improperly loading syringe or cartridge Inability to respond to safety alarms Misplacing PCA pump key... 

Alternative energy processes, just like any others, need to be protected from excessively high or low pressures. The methods of protection include pressure regulation, alarm, or safety interlock actuation when preset pressure limits are violated, and providing pressure relief devices, which need to be replaced after each operation (rupture disks) or can automatically reclose (relief valves). The features and characteristics of these devices are discussed in the following subsections. 

First, safety critical systems must be reliable. These systems control releases in the event of accidents. It s necessary to have a critical analyzer, instrument and electrical system test program. This should consist of preventive maintenance and alarm and trip device testing for panel alarms, emergency isolation valves and other critical components. [7]... 

Safety relief valves (SRVs) and safety critical alarms and critical shutdown systems can be modified easily by aging or tampering. The local environment surrounding the device including cycles of freezing and thawing, moisture, corrosive contact with equipment inter-... 

All of the effort expended in designing plant-safety systems is of little value unless accompanied by an adequate prooftest program and regular maintenance. These safety systems—consisting of such components as safety-relief valves, tank vents, critical alarms, and protective isolation and shutdown devices—do not operate on a continuous basis. Rather, they are only called into service periodically to warn of, or to prevent, conditions that could lead to plant accidents. [8]... 

Class 1 safety instrumentation loops include alarms and trips on storage tanks containing flammable or toxic liquids, devices to control high temperature and high pressure on exothermic-reaction vessels, and control mechanisms for low-flow, high-temperature fluids on fired heaters. Other Class 1 instruments include alarms that warn of flame failure on fired heaters, and vapor detectors for emergency valve isolation and sprinkler-system activation. All of these alarms, shutdown valves, and other critical instruments are regularly proof-tested to a well-defined schedule. 

---