SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RAPID LOCATION OF AN ALARM CONDITION

• US 20120313775A1
• Filed: 06/08/2011
• Published: 12/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Davis, Carl Claude
• Granted Patent: US 8,686,851 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.12
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/043 detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A method of notifying a clinician of an alarm condition for a patient including the steps of receiving notice of the alarm condition, identifying a location of the patient, identifying a location of the clinician, calculating guidance information based on the location of the clinician and the location of the patient, and providing the guidance information to a clinician using a portable notification device. The method may further include the steps of identifying a direction and/or an orientation of the clinician, and calculating and displaying the guidance information based on the direction and/or orientation of the clinician.

Claims

1. A method of notifying a clinician of an alarm condition for a patient, the method comprising:

receiving notice of the alarm condition;

identifying a location of the patient;

identifying a location of the clinician;

calculating guidance information based on the location of the clinician and the location of the patient; and

providing the guidance information using a portable notification device.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the step of displaying guidance information on the portable notification device at the location of the clinician.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable notification device is a wearable display device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the wearable display device is glasses with a heads up display.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable notification device is a handheld display device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable notification device is an auditory notification device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating guidance information is further based on a floor plan of a healthcare facility.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying the location of the clinician includes identifying the location of the portable notification device utilizing a location tracking system within a healthcare facility.

9. The method of claim 1, further including identifying a direction of the portable notification device based on input from a direction sensor in the portable notification device, and wherein the step of calculating guidance information further includes calculating guidance information based on the direction of the portable notification device.

10. The method of claim 1, further including the step of identifying an orientation of the portable notification device based on input from an orientation sensor in the portable notification device, and wherein the step of calculating guidance information further includes calculating guidance information based on the orientation of the portable notification device.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of calculating guidance information comprises calculating directions from the location of the clinician to the location of the patient.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the guidance information using the portable notification device further includes providing physiologic information of the patient using the portable notification device.

13. A method of notifying a clinician of an alarm condition for a patient using a portable notification device, the method comprising:

receiving notice of the alarm condition at the portable notification device;

identifying a location of the patient in a healthcare facility;

identifying a position of the clinician in the healthcare facility, wherein identifying the position of the clinician comprises;

identifying the location of the portable notification device;

identifying a direction of the portable notification device; and

identifying an orientation of the portable notification device;

calculating guidance information based on the location of the patient and the position of the clinician; and

displaying the guidance information on the portable notification device.

14. The method of claim 13, further including the steps of:

identifying an updated position of the clinician in the healthcare facility as the clinician moves toward the patient;

calculating updated guidance information based on the updated position of the clinician; and

displaying the updated guidance information on the portable notification device.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the portable notification device is a wearable display device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the portable notification device is a handheld display device.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of calculating a path from the clinician to the patient includes computing a path based on the floor plan of the healthcare facility.

18. An alarm notification system comprising:

a portable notification device comprising;

a receiver that receives notice of an alarm condition for a patient;

a location determining means for determining a location of the portable notification device in a healthcare environment; and

a display;

wherein, upon receiving notice of an alarm condition at the receiver, the portable notification device calculates guidance information based on the location of the portable notification device determined by the location determining means; and

displays guidance information using the display.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the portable notification device further includes a direction sensor that determines a direction of the portable notification device;

and wherein the portable notification device calculates the guidance information based on the direction of the portable notification device.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the portable notification device further includes an orientation sensor that determines an orientation of the portable notification device;

and wherein the portable notification device calculates the guidance information based on the orientation of the portable notification device.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the receiver further receives a location of the patient, and wherein the portable notification device further calculates the guidance information based on the location of the patient.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the portable notification device further calculates updated guidance information based on an updated location of the portable notification device and displays the updated guidance information.