Anaesthesia
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Multicenter Study
Theatre monitor alarm settings: a pilot survey in Scotland and Belgium.
The use of alarms on operating theatre equipment was explored in a questionnaire to anaesthetists in Belgium and Scotland. They were presented with a scenario of a fit male having an anaesthetic for an abdominal operation. ⋯ Beyond this, the respondents considered alarms to be a method of detecting problems before they occur and they readjust alarms for each patient. They would set systolic arterial pressure alarms 30 mmHg above and below the patients normal pressure, the heart rate alarms 30 bpm above and 20 bpm below the actual rate, and the peripheral oxygen saturation lower alarm limit to 90%.