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September 24, 2013

Alarm Fatigue

The Joint Commission defines "alarm fatigue" as the condition whereby clinicians become desensitized, overwhelmed or immune to the sound of an alarm. Given that up to 94% of all of alarms in an ICU are false alarms, becoming desensitized to these alarms is both natural and dangerous. Media reports of fatalities, including 2 at a single Massachusetts hospital and 80 deaths reported to the Joint Commission led to the new Sentinel Event Alert focusing on alarm fatigue. Recommended practices to mitigate alarm fatigue include developing protocols for safe alarm management, taking an inventory of alarm generating devices and creating guidelines for alarm setting. In addition, organizational assessments must be done to determine what alarms exist and which should be prioritized for action. MUSC clinicians can help with this assessment. Please take a few minutes to answer this brief survey.

Questions, comments or feedback? Email patientsafety@musc.edu
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