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common uses of fall alarms

by Rein Tideiksaar, PhD

In an effort to support facilities with their fall prevention activities, technologies related to reducing the hazards associated with falls are emerging as important strategies against the threats of patient safety.

One of the most notable fall preventive technologies are fall or exit alarms. The alarms serve as an "early warning system"; they alert nursing staff when “at-risk” patients are engaging in activities that are likely to result in falls.

Exit alarms serve a variety of useful functions:

• Alarms warn staff that the patient has changed position and is about to leave their bed, chair, wheelchair or toilet. This may give staff enough time to assist the patient.
  
  
• Alarms warn staff that the patient has shortly left the bed, chair, wheelchair or toilet. This may give staff enough time to intercept the patient before a fall.
  
  
• Alarms promote speedy assistance to patients who have already fallen in order to promptly care for the patient. This can help reduce fall complications, such as the amount of time that a patient lies unaided.
  
  
• Alarms, in some cases, can warn patients themselves. When a patient attempts to leave their bed, the exit alarm can activate a verbal reminder through speakers/intercoms reminding the patient to wait for staff. In some cases the sound of the alarm may prompt the patient to sit back in bed, chair, wheelchair or toilet (i.e., the alarm warns the patient that they are “doing something that they shouldn’t be doing”) and/or remind the patient to call for assistance.
  
  
• Alarms may serve as an alternative to nurse call bells in patients who are noncompliant or unable to use their call bell because of cognitive and/or physical impairments. Exit alarms, which do not require active participation by patients to trigger, may be preferable to nurse call systems, which demand active participation by individuals to activate.
  
  
• Alarms may serve as an assessment or planning tool by monitoring the frequency of attempts to leave the bed, chair or wheelchair, which can help identify emerging trends and interventions. Coupled with initial and ongoing risk assessments, exit alarms can inform staff about a patient’s habits. For example, a patient may consistently attempt to arise at a certain hour to go to the bathroom, while another patient may get up at nonspecific times, driven by an urge to wander. As a result of such a “history,” nurses can adjust their attention and care to each patient’s habits and needs.
  
  
• Alarms allow staff more freedom of time (avoiding constant supervision of patients at risk) and theoretically, completely eliminate the need to continually check on patients who have a tendency to falls. This provides nurses more opportunity to work with patients as opposed to spending time on surveillance or being frequently interrupted to observe patients.

Adapted from Essential Falls Management Series: Guide to Exit Alarms CD, Health Professions Press.

Exit Alarm Products

• Pressure-pad Alarms
  
  
• Pull cord Alarms

Posted October 2005
Updated July 2007

26 South Main Street, PMB #162 . Concord, NH 03301 . Phone: 603 397-0103