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2 measurement invalid alarms – Welch Allyn Atlas Monitor - User Manual User Manual

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3.2 Measurement Invalid Alarms


Invalid measurements could be caused by problems such as an ECG lead detaching from the patient or by
a kinked ETCO

2

sample line. Such conditions sound an alarm with a tone and pattern distinct from the

other alarms. You can quiet these with the Silence button, and you can suspend the alarm with the
appropriate

ALARMS Off

button. A Measurement Invalid alarm could also indicate that the patient’s

vital sign has exceeded the measurement capability of the Atlas Monitor. Measurement Invalid alarms
trigger a Print On Alarm, if Print On Alarm is configured.


The Measurement Invalid Alarm is indicated by
distinctly different alarm tones and by a message
on the screen. A variety of conditions might
cause this type of alarm, such as:
• the ETCO

2

sample line is kinked.

• one of the ECG leads has fallen off the

patient.

• the ETCO

2

watertrap is full and must be

replaced.

• one of the sensor cables is unplugged from

the monitor.

• the blood pressure cuff is detached, has a

leak, or is kinked.

• the patient’s vital sign measurement is

outside the range supported by the
instrument.

Any of these Measurement Invalid conditions
will cause four things to happen:
• The audible alarm will sound, if the event

occurs outside a silence period.

• The affected measurement will show

flashing dashes “---”.

• A message appears on the screen.

• A Print On Alarm will occur if Print On

Alarm is configured and alarms are not
suspended or silenced.

Silencing alarms – You can silence the audible
alarm with the

Silence

button for a short period.

This will not erase the message from the screen.
During this period, you should try to correct the
problem by reconnecting the cable or patient
lead, or changing the watertrap, if appropriate.
At the end of the silence period, if the condition
still exists, the audible alarm will announce the
problem again. When alarms are silenced, they
will not trigger a Print On Alarm. When the

silence period is over, an alarm that is still active
will trigger a Print On Alarm if the Print On
Alarm configuration is set to Yes.

Suspending alarms – If the problem cannot be
corrected, or if you want to ignore this
measurement, you can suspend a measurement
invalid alarm by pressing the corresponding

ALARMS Off

button. This will erase the

message from the screen and, depending on the
language setting, prevent further audible alarms
and messages for this condition. The dashes “---
” will be solid, not blinking. A Print On Alarm
will not occur when an alarm is suspended. If
the alarm is still active when it is unsuspended, a
Print On Alarm will occur if it is configured.

The ALARMS Off buttons are:

HR ALARMS Off

for heart rate.

SpO

2

ALARMS Off

for oximetry levels and

pulse rate.

BP ALARMS Off

for blood pressure.

RESP ALARMS Off

for respiration rate

(model 622xx). In model 623xx, this is

CO

2

/RESP ALARMS Off

, and it suspends

alarms for respiration rate and CO

2

levels.


Note: Individual alarms can be suspended for

only 3 minutes when the language setting is
configured to “Francais”. If the language
setting is set to any other language, pressing
the

ALARMS Off

button will suspend the

corresponding alarm until you remove the
suspension.

Note: The

Temperature

measurement never

produces an audible alarm. If the temperature
probe disconnects from the patient, the display is
replaced by solid dashes “---”.