Too many hospital alarms put patients at risk

By Colleen Stoxen

April 8, 2013 — 12:06pm

Constantly beeping alarms in hospitals are being linked to patient deaths and other dangers in a new alert from the Joint Commission hospital accrediting group.

The alarms can lead to "noise fatigue," and doctors and nurses sometimes inadvertently ignore the sounds when there's a real patient emergency, possibly resulting in treatment delays that endanger patients. The group says a government database lists more than 500 deaths potentially linked with hospital alarms in recent years.

The commission says hospital leaders need to address the problem and train staffers in safe alarm management.

--ASSOCIATED PRESS

Check in with us as we feature the latest trends, research and news in medicine, health and science. A team of Star Tribune staffers will aggregate updates from news wires, websites, magazines and medical journals.

View Comments

Read our comment standards

StarTribune.com welcomes and encourages readers to comment and engage in substantive, mutually respectful exchanges over news topics. Commenters must follow our Terms of Use.

Keep it civil and stay on topic.
No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks.
Comments with web links are not permitted.
Comments that violate the above will be removed. Repeat violators may lose their commenting privileges on StarTribune.com.

Comments will be reviewed before being published.

Fewer high school students smoking

Minnesota's first e-cigarette survey finds 12.9 percent used or tried e-cigs during the past month.

Variety

February 3, 2015

Many children still breathe secondhand smoke

Some groups are exposed at much higher rates.

Variety

January 6, 2015

Alcohol poisoning kills thousands in U.S.

Six people die each day.

Variety

December 2, 2014

Four Minnesota hospitals designated for Ebola treatment

35 are designated in U.S.

Variety

November 25, 2014

Calorie counts coming to more menus

FDA making some chain restaurants post calories.

National

1:30am

As Clinton focuses on debate, Trump says he'd champion women

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is arguing that he'll do more to help women from the White House than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. At the same time, he's taunting her over the infidelities of her husband.

Local

September 24

“When you come to work for a company in Minnesota, you are probably going to be the only person of color on your team, or your floor, or maybe your company,” Target's Jareesa Tucker McClure said.

Twin Cities businesses ask why professionals of color leave

Sixty percent of those who took part in recent focus groups said they plan to leave the state in the next three to five years.

National

September 24

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief, Kerr Putney, speaks to the media a...

Doubts remain after Charlotte police shooting video released

Charlotte police released dramatic video Saturday that shows officers with guns drawn surrounding a black man with his hands at his side before shots are fired and he buckles and falls. It's unclear if there was anything in the man's hands in the footage, which has done little to assuage his relatives.

West Metro

September 24

Parking lot demolition was underway Saturday afternoon at the Terrace Theatre in Robbinsdale. Earlier, a court stay halted the process at the actual theater building.

As Terrace Theatre demolition begins, an order arrives to halt it

Crews with a bulldozer punched a hole in the building before court order stopped demolition.

Business

May 10

May 11: Med-tech partnership promotes Minnesota as a place to do business

The group is part of an Obama administration initiative to help spur manufacturing in the U.S.

July 24

Punishing strike by resident doctors grinds on in Haiti

Empty halls buzz with flies. Rats scamper through the wards at night. The emergency room is empty except for four shackled prisoners, watched over by relatives and missionaries rather than medical personnel.

Local

June 24

Twin Cities nurses' union asks regulators to investigate allegations of poor care during strike

Union says replacement nurses have affected care; Allina says claims so far are without merit.

June 17

Up to 1 in 5 trauma deaths preventable, study says

WASHINGTON – Up to 1 in 5 people may be dying unnecessarily from car crashes, gunshots or other injuries, a stark conclusion from government…

June 17

Up to 1 in 5 trauma deaths could be prevented, study says

Up to 1 in 5 people may be dying unnecessarily from car crashes, gunshots or other injuries, a stark conclusion from government advisers who say where you live shouldn't determine if you survive. The findings take on new urgency amid the increasing threat of mass casualties like the massacre in Orlando.

Science

December 19, 2015