User's Manual

5 Alarms
109
5Alarms
The alarm information here applies to all measurements. Measurement-specific alarm information is
contained in the sections on individual measurements.
The fetal monitor has two different types of alarm: patient alarms and INOPs.
Patient Alarms
Red and yellow alarms are patient alarms. A red alarm indicates high priority, such as a potentially life
threatening situation (for example, SpO
2
below the desaturation alarm limit). A yellow alarm indicates
a lower priority alarm (for example, a fetal heart rate alarm limit violation).
INOPs
INOPs are technical alarms. They indicate that the monitor cannot measure and therefore not detect
critical conditions reliably. If an INOP interrupts monitoring and alarm detection (for example,
MECG
Leads Off
), the monitor places a question mark in place of the measurement numeric and sounds an
audible tone. INOPs without this tone indicate that there may be a problem with the reliability of the
data, but that monitoring is not interrupted.
Most INOPs are light blue, however there are a small number of INOPs which are always yellow or
red to indicate a severity corresponding to red and yellow alarms. The following INOPs can also be
configured as red or yellow INOPs to provide a severity indication:
•
MECG Leads Off
• <SpO₂ Label> No Pulse
• Tele Disconnected
• Battery Empty / Replace Battery
Alarm Delays
There is a delay between a physiological event at the measurement site and the corresponding alarm
indication at the monitor. This delay has two components:
• The general measurement delay time is the time between the occurrence of the
physiological event and when this event is represented by the displayed numerical values.
This delay depends on the algorithmic processing and, for certain measurements (SpO
2
, EEG and
BIS), on the configured averaging time. The longer the averaging time is configured, the longer it
takes until the numerical values reflect the physiological event.
• The time between the displayed numerical values exceeding an alarm limit and the alarm
indication on the monitor. This delay is the sum of the alarm delay configured for the specific
measurement plus the system alarm delay. The system alarm delay is the processing time the
system needs for any alarm on the monitor to be indicated after the measurement has triggered the
alarm. See the performance specifications in “Specifications and Standards Compliance” on
page 269 for the system alarm delay specification.
Multiple Alarms
If more than one alarm is active, the alarm messages are shown in the alarm status area in succession.
An arrow symbol next to the alarm message informs you that more than one message is active.
The monitor sounds an audible indicator for the highest priority alarm. If more than one alarm
condition is active in the same measurement, the monitor announces the most severe.