User's Manual

13 Monitoring Triple FHRs
179
13Monitoring Triple FHRs
If your monitor is equipped with the triplets option, it carries the label.
You can monitor triple FHRs externally using three ultrasound transducers. With the Avalon CL
Transducer system you can now monitor triplets with cableless transducers. The Avalon CTS system
does not have this option.
Refer to the appropriate preceding chapters for contraindications, and more information about the
available measurement methods.
FHR detection by the monitor may not always indicate that the fetuses are alive. Confirm fetal life
before monitoring, and continue to confirm that the fetuses are the signal source for the recorded fetal
heart rates. See “Confirm Fetal Life Before Using the Monitor” on page 10 and “Cross-Channel
Verification (CCV)” on page 149.
Important Considerations
• The procedures and any contraindications that apply for twins monitoring also apply for
monitoring triplets. In addition, when monitoring triplets: Be aware that monitoring three FHRs is
inherently more difficult than monitoring single or twin FHRs. The nature of the application
increases the likelihood that a fetal heart rate is monitored by more than one transducer.
• Ensure that you are recording three different fetal heart rates. Pay particular attention to any
coincidence of heart rates detected by the monitor's cross-channel verification feature.
• Fetal heart rate measurements are labeled in the order in which you plug in the transducers for
those measurements. It does not matter which fetal sensor socket you use, as the monitor allocates
a channel automatically. For instance, the first transducer you connect is automatically allocated a
channel, and the measurement is labeled
FHR1, the second is labeled FHR2, and the third FHR3.
If you need to disconnect the transducers measuring the FHR temporarily, with the intention to
continue monitoring after the temporary break (for example, if the mother needs to go to the
bathroom), it is important that you reconnect the transducers in the same order as you originally
connected them to make sure the measurement labels remain consistent.
Upon discharge of the patient all connected transducers are reset from left to right. Example: Only
one transducer is still connected to the monitor, it was labeled
FHR2 while monitoring the previous
discharged patient; it is now reset to
FHR1.
• The transducer Finder LED lets you identify at a glance which transducer is monitoring which
heart rate channel.