We support you in facing your alarm management challenges
—You monitor and deliver therapies to high acuity patients with devices that generate a broad range of medical alarms. Some medical device alarms are actionable, calling for your in-person intervention, while others are simply informational, raising your awareness to conditions that might escalate and later require a bedside response.
Clinical alarms can present significant workflow challenges. Developing effective methods and incorporating proven technologies to manage alarms can generate many benefits.
Dräger Alarm Management Solution
—Patient alarms play a vital role in protecting patients in intensive care units by allowing timely responses by caregivers. However, the potentially overwhelming number of acoustic alarms poses different challenges that need to be managed systematically to avoid adverse events.
A noisy ICU environment can lead patients and caregivers to develop delirium and stress. Over 30% of patients treated in the ICUs become confused or develop delirium. Standard ICUs recorded noise levels above 45 dBA at all times, over the suggested 35 dBA by the World Health Organisation (WHO)1.
At an ICU bed, up to 350 alarms can occur per day, of which up to 95% are clinically irrelevant2. This sensory overload can lead to alarm fatigue in healthcare providers, resulting in desensitisation to alarms and even missed alarms.
Discover in the infographic why you need an alarm management strategy and how you could benefit.
Our holistic approach to clinical alarm management
—Effective alarm management enables you to systematically reduce noise pollution for patients and staff to an acceptable level. As Your Specialist in Acute Care, we support you with know-how, system offerings and solutions. Learn more about the different elements of a systematic management of clinical alarms so that your patients can recover in peace and your staff can work with focus.
Sending the right alarm to the right person at the right time
To safely manage critical patient alarms in acute care environments, we collaborate with Ascom for an integrated alarm distribution solution. By sending alerts from our Dräger patient monitors and ventilators directly out via the Distributed Information System (DIS) to a caregiver assigned to the respective patient, we enable a timely intervention for multifaceted clinical scenarios.
Alarm Distribution: Our Solution with Ascom as a Partner
The Ascom software as medical device (EU/EFTA Class IIb) interface to the Dräger Infinity Gateway and optionally other sources of patient data, allows :
- medical devices connectivity
- alarm management (filtering, priorization, redirection/escalation),
- near real time data displayed on dashboards and mobile phones,
- engines for early warning scoring and clinical decision support.
Download our brochure to learn more about our integrated alarm management solutions and value-adding services.
Clinical alarm management
—The Dräger Alarm Management Solution is your one-stop source for:
• Alarm auditing and reporting to gather and share core information
• Workflow consulting expertise to determine requirements
• Alarm management plan development to meet the National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 06.01.01
• Plan implementation to change the way people deal with alarms
Six steps to success
Assemble a team
Form an Alarm Steering Committee to identify needs, investigate solutions, and navigate a course of action.
Initiate and validate
Consider your current strategy and objectively discuss what is working, as well as what could be improved. Always keep your goals top-of-mind.
Collect and analyze
Look at the data. Prepare it in a format that allows you to compare patients, beds, nurse assignments, and alarm details.
Design
Develop a comprehensive plan of short-term and long-term tactics, which will include new workflows, desired technologies, recommended suppliers, budgets and project timelines.
Implement
Prepare those who are impacted by the changes, to get the greatest benefit from your new workflows and technologies. Take advantage of training programs offered by suppliers and professional organizations.
Check the connection
Routinely review reports and data. Ask yourself if the strategy is working. Implementing a new strategy is the most important step, but that is just the beginning. Improvement is a perpetual process.
Top providers and Dräger working together for you
—Partnering with top technology providers enables us to offer a range of scalable options that will fit both your clinical workflow and enterprise IT strategy. Our strong relationships ensure system compatibility with maximum reliability. In tandem with our technology partners, we at Dräger can develop an alarm management solution for your workplace and the way you work.
Ascom and Dräger
Medical Alarm Management Solution Brief
Knowing best practice
—When undertaking an initiative around clinical alarm management, reach out to those with experience. You will find that these organizations offer research, materials and tools that will get you off to a strong start and guide you to success.
ECRI’s Alarm Safety Resource Center
Clinical Alarms Management and Integration Program
Alarm management webinars
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Alarm Auditing - Do You Know Your Number?
You can’t create a plan to improve alarm management to meet the NPSG unless you know where you are starting. Learn best practice for formulating an approach on data collection and analysis for a successful audit. Build a strong foundation for your alarm management plan.
Alarm Fatigue and the NPSG 06.01.01
Learn how you can prepare to meet the performance elements of NPSG and set up a solid foundation for meeting the 2016 goals. From the new grad to the seasoned administrator, every nurse will have an important role in creating an environment to prevent alarm related patient injuries and fatalities.
Workflow - Hype or Reality?
Collaborative workflow can become a reality. Research supports collaboration across teams which makes for higher job satisfaction. The end result is improved patient outcomes, enhanced patient experience and inter/intra-department process efficiencies.
Alarm management resources
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Avera Heart Hospital Case History
Learn how Dräger helped Avera Heart Hospital to reduce the average per bed/per day alarm count by 30 percent.
Alarm Management Solution Brochure
Alarm fatigue has such an impact on patient safety and clinical efficiency that the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG 06.01.01) has mandated that hospitals establish policies and procedures for managing clinical alarms. The Dräger Alarm Management Solution can help you meet the NPSG, support patient safety, and increase staff efficiency.
How Can CEOs Help Lead the Effort in Combating Alarm Fatigue?
Lothar Thielen, President and CEO of Dräger North America, explains how executive-level leadership is key in supporting alarm management initiatives in an article from Health System Management.
Standards Compliance
—International Alarm Management Standards
Choose an alarm management solution that complies with the clinical and administrative requirements of your hospital. To better evaluate your options, it is important to be aware of the standards that govern the manufacturing of alarm management technologies.
IEC 60601-1-8:2006/AMD2:2020
Amendment 2 - Medical electrical equipment - Part 1-8: General requirements for basic safety and essential performance - Collateral Standard: General requirements, tests and guidance for alarm systems in medical electrical equipment and medical electrical systems
IEC/TR 80001-2-5:2014
Application of risk management for IT-networks incorporating medical devices — Part 2-5: Application guidance — Guidance for distributed alarm systems
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) - Devices Domain
IHE-PCD (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise – Patient Care Device) has built a technical framework of use cases that feature defined special profiles, including specifications for clinical alarms and system interoperability.
Related topics
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Medical Device Interoperability
ISO/IEEE 11073-SDC
Cybersecurity in Healthcare
References
1Jones, K. (2014). Alarm fatigue a top patient safety hazard. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 186(3), p. 178.
2Darbyshire J.L. & Young J. D. (2013). An investigation of sound levels on intensive care units with reference to the WHO guidelines. Critical Care, 17: R187.
Get in Touch With Dräger
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2425 Skymark Ave, Unit 1
Mississauga, ON L4W 4Y6
Call us from 8 am - 5 pm, Monday - Friday