In modern hospitals the health care providers rely more and more on machines. A patient’s well-being is maintained through monitoring devices (picture the screen above the patient’s bed showing a pulse), breathing-assistance machines, and drug dispensing methods. The failure of any of these devices, or a malfunction, can adversely affect the patient’s well-being or even cause a death.

Almost all of these machines have alarms or other means of alerting the provider when the machine isn’t working properly. But the machines and their alarms also have to be regularly checked and tested to be sure the alarms are working properly. In a hospital’s basement or other out-of-site location are the technicians who do this. Often the manufacturer of the devices will also periodically check the machine’s performance, including the alarm systems.

A hospital is required to keep meticulous records of a machine’s maintenance and regular testing. Sometimes a case against a hospital will depend on those records, rather than the patient’s regular medical records, to show that a hospital was negligent in its equipment maintenance or testing and it caused harm to a patient.

A recent article published by The Joint Commission includes a number of recommendations for hospitals to ensure that their alarms are well maintained and working properly. Here is a link to the article:

[Joint Commission Alert Addresses Medical Device Alarm Safety in Hospitals][1]

[1]: http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/SEA_50_alarms_4_5_13_FINAL1.PDF “Joint Commission Alert Addresses Medical Device Alarm Safety in Hospitals”