Alarms-a user´s perspective

The art of medicine has evolved into a science, and with the science has come technology. Anaesthesia and intensive care has probably experienced more scientific development than any other medical speciality. As a result, we are now able to support patients through periods of severe illness and trauma from which survival was previously considered inconceivable. However, human physiology is a delicate and complex interaction of systems that operate effectively within only narrow physical confines. In this respect, management of the critically ill patient can be likened to walking a tightrope. Allow the pH of the blood to drop by half a unit, or the arterial oxygen saturation to drop by 20%, and the patient may soon become unrecoverable. Thus we now require more complex monitoring systems than simply the presence of a dedicated nurse standing at the bedside. Practical issues related to the use of alarms in such situations are discussed from a user´s viewpoint