The Hidden Cost of Alarm Fatigue in Correctional Healthcare

How false alarms are creating real safety gaps in an already understaffed environment

Every day in correctional facilities across America, alarms sound. Heart rate monitors. Blood pressure alerts. Movement sensors. Dozens, hundreds, even thousands of times per shift. And every day, correctional healthcare staff and officers face an impossible task: determining which alarms signal a genuine emergency and which are just noise.

Research from traditional healthcare settings reveals a startling reality: between 72% and 99% of clinical alarms are false.[1] One hospital reported more than 2.5 million alarms in a single month.[2] A children's hospital tracked 5,300 alarms in just one day—95% of them false.[3] The FDA documented over 560 alarm-related deaths between 2005 and 2008, with alarm fatigue identified as a major contributing factor.[4]

Now imagine that problem in a correctional healthcare environment, where the challenges are exponentially more complex.

The Perfect Storm: Alarm Fatigue Meets Staffing Shortages

Correctional facilities face a unique convergence of challenges that makes alarm fatigue not just a nuisance, but a critical safety issue:

Limited Healthcare Coverage: Many facilities with average daily populations under 500 lack full-time healthcare staffing.[5] This means officers—not medical professionals—are often the first responders to medical alarms, sometimes without adequate training to distinguish false alarms from genuine emergencies.[6]

Officer Shortages Compound the Problem: When detention officers are already stretched thin, false alarms don't just create noise—they pull limited staff away from other critical security and care responsibilities. Some facilities report rescheduling medical appointments multiple times because there aren't enough officers available for transport.[7]

High-Risk Population: With 40% of incarcerated individuals having chronic medical conditions, the stakes are higher.[8] These aren't just routine monitoring scenarios—many require consistent, specialized care where missed alarms can be fatal.

The Cry-Wolf Effect in Action

When staff are bombarded with constant false alarms, a dangerous psychological phenomenon occurs: desensitization. Healthcare workers and officers begin to distrust the reliability of alarms. They turn down volumes, delay responses, or miss critical alerts entirely because they've learned that most alarms don't require action.[9]

In traditional healthcare, this is called the "cry-wolf effect." In correctional settings, where medical staff may not be immediately available and officers are juggling multiple responsibilities, this desensitization creates life-threatening gaps in care.

A recent case in Hong Kong's Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre illustrates what's at stake: An inmate collapsed from cardiac arrest shortly after a routine check. In most facilities, that would mean another 30-60 minutes before the next check—almost certainly too late for successful resuscitation. But because the facility had implemented contactless monitoring technology with high accuracy, staff were immediately alerted to changes in vital signs and saved the inmate's life.[10]

The Path Forward: Accuracy Over Noise

The solution to alarm fatigue isn't fewer alarms—it's smarter, more accurate monitoring that only alerts staff when there's a genuine cause for concern. Modern contactless monitoring technology represents a fundamental shift in approach:

Rather than creating constant background noise that staff learn to ignore, these systems establish baseline patterns for each individual and only alert when meaningful deviations occur. They don't require inmate participation or wearable devices that can be tampered with. And critically, they reduce the cognitive load on already-stretched staff while improving actual emergency response times.

Breaking the Cycle

Alarm fatigue in correctional healthcare isn't just a technology problem—it's a patient safety crisis happening in slow motion. Every false alarm chips away at staff responsiveness. Every missed genuine alarm represents a preventable tragedy.

The question isn't whether we can afford to address alarm fatigue in correctional healthcare. It's whether we can afford not to.

The facilities that recognize this reality and invest in high-accuracy monitoring solutions aren't just reducing noise—they're saving lives while making better use of their most valuable and scarce resource: their staff's attention and time.

References:

[1] Sendelbach, S., & Funk, M. (2013). Alarm fatigue: A patient safety concern. AANA Journal, 81(4), 271-276. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24153215/

[2] Jacques, S., & Williams, E. (2016). Reducing the Safety Hazards of Monitor Alert and Alarm Fatigue. PSNet. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/perspective/reducing-safety-hazards-monitor-alert-and-alarm-fatigue

[3] Alarm Fatigue Statistics and Patient Safety. (2024). Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/alarm-fatigue-statistics-patient-safety/

[4] Woo, M., & Bacon, O. (2020). Alarm Fatigue. Making Healthcare Safer III: A Critical Analysis of Existing and Emerging Patient Safety Practices. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555522/

[5] Sawyer, W., & Wagner, P. (2022). Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2022. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/healthcare.html

[6] Koenigsmann, C., et al. (2023). The Role of Detention Officers in the Provision of Jail Healthcare in the Southeastern United States. BMC Health Services Research. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10528480/

[7] Ibid.

[8] Bridging the Correctional Health Staffing Gap: How Comprehensive Teams Improve Inmate Care. (2025). Supplemental Health Care. https://shccares.com/blog/workforce-solutions/bridging-staffing-gaps-in-corrections/

[9] Ruskin, K.J., & Bliss, J. (2024). Alarm Fatigue and Patient Safety. Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. https://www.apsf.org/article/alarm-fatigue-and-patient-safety/

[10] Lloyd, J. (2025). Inmate health monitoring advance helps stop emergencies faster. Corrections1. https://www.corrections1.com/correctional-healthcare/inmate-health-monitoring-advance-helps-stop-emergencies-faster