Congressman Edward Markey asks federal government to tackle alarm fatigue

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey asked the top US health official today to tackle the problem of alarm fatigue -- a phenomenon that occurs in health care facilities when nurses become desensitized to constant beeping from alarms on cardiac monitors and other devices.

As a result, nurses can tune out or ignore alarms warning of a potentially dangerous change in a patient’s condition or a serious problem with a device.

Citing Globe stories this year that investigated patient deaths linked to alarm problems, Markey asked in a letter that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius commission the Institute of Medicine to analyze the problem and recommend solutions.

“Assailed by alerts and bombarded by beeps day in and day out, even the most experienced and diligent caregivers may stop hearing or heeding the warning signs that a patient’s heartbeat has become erratic or that blood pressure has dropped to a dangerously low level,’’ the Massachusetts Democrat said in his letter.

The IOM, an independent organization that advises policy-makers, should “develop best practice guidelines for device manufacturers and health care providers to protect patient safety and avoid alarm fatigue and other alarm-related safety concerns,’’ Markey wrote.

The guidelines should address ways for manufacturers to reduce the number of unnecessary alarms, such as by integrating alarms from different devices; standards for training hospital staff to minimize alarm fatigue; and measures for improving the Food and Drug Administration’s adverse event reporting system, so the agency has better information on the problem, he said.

The FDA regulates device manufacturers, which along with hospitals are required to report patient injuries and deaths linked to a malfunction or other problem.

The Globe reported earlier this year that problems with monitor alarms contributed to at least 216 deaths nationwide between 2005 and mid-2010. In a subsequent story, the paper reported on similar problems with ventilator alarms that were linked to 119 deaths since 2005.

In response to the stories, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which licenses the state’s hospitals, last month trained 80 surveyors on recognizing alarm fatigue when they inspect facilities. “We wanted to get it in the forefront of their minds so they are thinking about it when they go into hospitals,’’ said Madeleine Biondolillo, director of quality and safety for the department.

Liz Kowalczyk can be reached at kowalczyk@globe.com.