News Media Shines Light on Alarm Problems
Problems with medical alarms management, a high-profile issue for AAMI, are getting new attention from national news outlets.
In a Dec. 11 article, The Boston Globe said that it analyzed federal safety reports and found that at least 119 people died nationwide between 2005 and May 2011 due to alarm-related problems with their ventilators. A follow-up article by ABCNews.com reported on actions being taken by AAMI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to combat the problem.
The Boston Globe also cited a separate review by the FDA that the newspaper says “uncovered about 800 alarm-related adverse events involving ventilator patients in 2010 alone. Many were deemed ‘preventable’ or due to ‘human error.’ An unknown number resulted in injuries or deaths.”
The article gave examples of alarm fatigue, where hospital staff became desensitized to critical alarms because they had to respond to so many false ones. It also recounted how some patients died because their alarm was turned off or the volume lowered.
The problems aren’t just in hospitals. About one-quarter of the 119 deaths happened in the patient’s home, The Boston Globe said.
On Dec. 12, a post on the “Medical Unit” blog on ABCNews.com cited efforts by AAMI and the FDA to address the problem. AAMI President Mary Logan told ABCNews.com that the problem isn’t just with caregivers.
“It’s impossible to pinpoint any one layer in the system that’s causing the problem. It really is a systems issue,” she said. ”And the only way we’re going to be able to solve it is getting the health care community to work together.”
In October, AAMI held an alarms summit supported by the FDA, The Joint Commission, the ECRI Institute, and the American College of Clinical Engineering.
At the summit, nearly 300 experts identified the top priorities to solving alarm system problems. The Healthcare Technology Safety Institute will create an action plan at a later date on how to address those priorities.
To read The Boston Globe article, click here. To read the ABCNews.com article, click here.