Key result
A review of medical device alarms highlights that alarm-related hazards result largely from human-device interactions, emphasizing the need for empirical research to improve alarm management.
This perspective emphasizes the need for empirical research on human factors in medical device alarm management to improve patient safety.
Alarm safety depends on human-device interactions; leaves open effective interventions pending empirical validation.
Medical devices emit alarms when a problem with the device or with the patient needs to be addressed by healthcare personnel. At present, problems with device alarms are frequently discussed in the literature, the main message being that patient safety is compromised because device alarms are not as effective and safe as they should - and could - be. There is a general consensus that alarm-related hazards result, to a considerable degree, from the interactions of human users with the device. The present paper addresses key aspects of human perception and cognition that may relate to both operating alarming devices and responding to device alarms. Recent publications suggested solutions to alarm-related hazards associated with usage errors based on assumptions on the causal relations between, for example, alarm management and human perception, cognition, and responding. However, although there is face validity in many of these assumptions, future research should provide objective empirical evidence in order to deepen our understanding of the actual causal relationships, and hence improve and expand the possibilities for taking appropriate action.
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Lange et al. (2014) conducted a review in Medical device alarms. A review of medical device alarms highlights that alarm-related hazards result largely from human-device interactions, emphasizing the need for empirical research to improve alarm management.
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