NAME THAT TONE - THE PROLIFERATION OF ALARMS IN THE INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

The proliferation of alarms on equipment in ICUs contributes to a leve l of noise that can disturb both patient and staff. To determine wheth er these alarms are indentifiable by sound alone to our ICU staff, we recorded 33 audio signals commonly heard on the ward, 10 of which we d efined as critical alarms. One hundred subjects (25 physicians, 41 nur ses, and 34 respiratory therapists) listened individually in a quiet r oom to the tape recording that consisted of 10 s of audible followed b y a 10-s pause for a written response. Only 50 percent of the critical alarms and only 40 percent of the noncritical sounds were correctly i dentified. By occupation, registered respiratory therapists scored hig hest, followed by nurses, nonregistered therapists, and physicians. Th ose with >1 year ICU work experience scored higher than those with les s than 1 year. We conclude that the myriad of alarms that regularly oc cur in the ICU are too much for even experienced ICU staff to quickly discern. Patient and caregiver alike could benefit by a graded system in which only urgent problems have audible alarms, and these should be covered by regular in-service training.