What Is Alarm Fatigue?
If you have ever spent time in a hospital, you are probably acutely aware of the number of beeping monitors and other alarms healthcare workers are exposed to on a minute-to-minute basis. While these technologies are of course in place to ensure patients’ wellbeing, the constant exposure to vital sign monitors can lead to a dangerous phenomenon among healthcare workers commonly known as alarm fatigue.
When alarm fatigue occurs, healthcare workers become desensitized to important alarms, which can lead them to neglect their patients’ needs.
Below, I’ll tell you more about the dangers of alarm fatigue and what to do if you or a relative has been harmed because of it. If you believe your health has been endangered due to medical staff negligence, a medical malpractice attorney in Northern New Jersey may be able to help. Call Buttafuoco & Associates at 1-800-NOW-HURT to learn more about your case during a free consultation.
How Does Alarm Fatigue Happen?
It may seem shocking to imagine health care workers not responding to vital sign monitors, but the unfortunate reality is that it happens with some frequency. Because monitors beep for a variety of reasons–from emergencies to malfunctions–workers are sometimes exposed to up to 1000 alarms during a single shift. This can lead them to struggle to identify specific alarms, or to become desensitized to the noise, so that they don’t respond quickly enough in urgent situations. According to recent studies, alarm fatigue potentially causes at least 500 deaths per year in the United States.
Even as health care facilities and monitor manufacturers are aware that this is a huge issue, few steps have been taken to address it. Some solutions that have been enacted include changing the settings on monitors so that only truly urgent situations result in alarms, and developing alarms that are easier to distinguish from each other. But the problem is unfortunately very challenging to solve, sometimes leaving patients in a vulnerable position.
Who is Responsible When Alarm Fatigue Results in Injury?
While it might seem at first glance to be the fault of the healthcare worker themself when alarm fatigue results in an accident, there are additional factors to consider, which makes negligence cases complicated.
While health care workers are of course responsible for the well being of patients they attend to, there are many scenarios in which hospital administrators or the monitor manufacturer may be to blame. For example, an important part of working among monitors is that healthcare workers must receive proper training on how and when to respond to alarms–including which alarms are clinically significant and require a prompt response. Patients and their families must also be educated by hospital staff so they understand what different types of alarms mean and when they are true emergencies.
Additionally, hospitals must place alarms in places that are easily accessible, and adjust alarm settings, volumes, and frequencies so that all alarms do not blend together and become indistinguishable. Manufacturers themselves should also consider the types of sounds their monitors make and provide clear instructions and additional training for health professionals.
When to Call a Medical Malpractice Attorney
Regardless of which party is responsible when an error occurs, negligent parties must be held accountable when patients suffer injuries or death that are related to alarm fatigue. As you can see, alarm fatigue negligence cases can be complicated in terms of determining who is at fault. Regardless of who caused the injury, it is essential that we hold our healthcare workers, systems, and manufacturers to the highest standards when it comes to protecting us.
If you have been harmed by alarm fatigue and are unsure who is to blame, a medical malpractice attorney at Buttafuoco and Associates can help you determine whether or not you have a case and receive the compensation you need to recover. Get in touch today for a free consultation.
Call 1-800-NOW-HURT.
