Philips IntelliVue X2 Instructions For Use Manual page 125

Arrhythmia Alarms
Arrhythmia Alarm Timeout Periods
Normally, an arrhythmia alarm is announced when an alarm condition is detected. However, there are
certain situations that can inhibit the audible and visible indications of the alarm even though the
alarm condition was detected. These include:
• if a more serious alarm condition is active in the same chain
• if a timeout period is in effect for a particular alarm
• if a timeout period is in effect for a higher alarm in that chain.
See "Arrhythmia Alarm Chaining" on page 118 for more details on alarm chains.
What is a Timeout Period?
Timeout periods are automatically started when a yellow arrhythmia alarm is detected. During this
period, the same alarm condition will not generate another alarm. Alarm conditions further down the
same arrhythmia alarm chain will also not generate an alarm, but alarms further up the chain will: see
"Arrhythmia Alarm Chaining" on page 118).
This setting can only be changed in Configuration Mode.
To view the timeout period configured for your monitor, in the Setup Arrhythmia menu,
♦
see the menu items TimeOut 1st and TimeOut 2nd.
Resetting the Timeout Period
To reset the timeout period, press the Alarms key and then reselect it.
♦
How are Yellow Arrhythmia Alarms Indicated?
When a yellow arrhythmia alarm is generated, it triggers visual and audible indicators. Yellow
arrhythmia alarms are always set to latch visually for three minutes except HR High/Low alarms, if
configured to standard yellow. Depending on the alarm condition, audible and visual alarm indicators
will appear as follows:
Alarm Condition
Single alarm instance
Continuous alarm condition PVCs/min
Same intermittent alarm
condition
7 ECG, Arrhythmia, ST and QT Monitoring
Example Audible Indicators
Short yellow alarm tone
sounds ...
Non-sustained when alarm condition is
V-tach initially detected
when alarm condition is
HIGH initially detected and - as an
alarm reminder - every time
the configured time out
period has expired
Pair of PVCs each time the alarm condition
is detected, provided that the
configured timeout period has
expired
Visual Indicators
Alarm message
displayed ...
for 3 minutes (latching
time)
until the alarm condition
stops, plus a maximum of
three minutes latching
time
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