USABILITY OF MECHANIC VENTILATORS CLINICAL ALARMS IN INTENSIVE CARE 1
Problems inherent in the usability of medical and healthcare equipment (MHE) and patient safety in intensive care units (ICU) go beyond those described among the six international goals patient safety from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) The mechanical ventilators (MV) generate many audible alarms, some with inconsistent data. The objective was to analyze the usability of audible alarms triggered by VM in ICU. Descriptive observational research, study case type with a quantitative approach, developed in the ICU of a university hospital located in Rio de Janeiro. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. During 30 hours of observation, 129 alarms triggered by MV were recorded, of which only 05 had a response and 124 fatigued. Respiratory high frequency (n=31) followed by low volume alarm (n=26) high airway pressure (n=24) low airway pressure (n=23) circuit disconnection (n=18) and alarm FiO2 (n=7) were the most prevalent. Only 36 were classified as consistent. The alarms have become increasingly trivialized by the team in the ICU. It is necessary to change the attitude towards them, improving their effectiveness.