VENTILATOR ALARM TRENDS IN A MEDICAL ICU

ABSTRACT

SESSION TITLE Actionable Improvements in Safety and Quality SESSION TYPE Rapid Fire Original Inv PRESENTED ON 10/17/2022 1215 pm - 115 pm PURPOSE: Ventilator alarms are an audible and visual safeguard within a system which alerts clinicians to potentially critical changes within the patient or ventilator unit. They are a crucial aspect of patient care;however, not every alarm that is generated by the ventilator will provide actionable information. Unfortunately, this can contribute significantly to the overall alarm burden in the intensive care unit. This has been especially true with the marked increase in ventilator use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The individual impact of each alarm can easily become dampened due to the sheer quantity of alarms, ventilator-related and others. Excessive alarming may lead to cognitive overload and alarm fatigue for providers, and eventually, adversely impact patient outcomes. This potentially can lead to missed life-sustaining interventions and medical errors. METHODS: As part of a quality improvement initiative, we evaluated ventilator alarms through the month of October 2021 in the medical intensive care unit within Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. Respiratory therapists recorded ventilator parameters and extracted alarm data daily from every ventilator within the medical intensive care unit. Ventilator logs were exported from each individual Servo-U ventilator unit in use onto a USB flash drive and the captured data was uploaded to a secure network for review. For each ventilator, data regarding specific alarm type and priority as defined by the manufacturer, as well as time, frequency, and duration was obtained for review. RESULTS: From October 4, 2021, to October 31, 2021, a total of 30,230 ventilator alarms were initiated over 672 hours in the MICU. This provided an approximate mean of 45 alarms per ventilator hour. Data was collected daily from all MICU ventilators in use which averaged about 12 ventilators per day (between 6-16). The top four alarms as defined by the ventilator were “airway pressure high,” “respiratory rate high,” “PEEP [positive end expiratory pressure] low,” and “expiratory minute volume low.” 18,451 alarms over the month were “airway pressure high.” 3,982 alarms were defined as “respiratory rate high.” 2,220 alarms were “PEEP low” and 2,041 alarms were “expiratory minute volume low.” CONCLUSIONS: Ventilator alarms, both nuisance and actionable alarms, contribute significantly to the alarm burden in the medical intensive care unit. Dedicated research is necessary to ensure safer alarm practices. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Evaluating baseline alarm data allows for assessments as well as analyses of trends and patterns that are contributing to the excessive noise within the intensive care units. This gives hospitals an opportunity to provide targeted multidisciplinary educational initiatives and create standardized protocols to enhance the quality and safety surrounding ventilator alarms within intensive care units. DISCLOSURES No relevant relationships by Kerry Hena No relevant relationships by Charmel Rogers no disclosure on file for Amit Uppal;No relevant relationships by Tatiana Weinstein