Most monitors default the MAP alarm to a low threshold, or it is left from the previous case. By the time it sounds, the patient is already hypotensive.
Setting the lower MAP alarm above your treatment threshold at the start of the case turns a reactive alarm into an early warning, at no cost. Adjust it for the patient's baseline pressure.
- Check the lower MAP alarm when the arterial line is connected.
- Set it a few mmHg above the pressure at which you intend to treat.
- Individualise for chronic hypertension, where baseline MAP is higher.
- Reset alarms between cases.
Why it matters
A default alarm announces hypotension after it has happened rather than before.
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