Edge of Bed and Out of Bed Alerts
This document is for use by staff who have been trained to use Oxevision. You must be trained to use the system. Your Oxehealth Champion can arrange this for you or ask your manager.
What are they?
- Out-of-Bed alerts are designed to notify staff when activity is detected near a bed following activity within the bed. This can indicate to staff that a person at risk of falls has got out of bed unattended so that staff can choose to make an additional check on them and provide assistance.*
- Edge-of-Bed alerts are designed to notify staff when activity is detected nearing the edge of a bed. This can indicate an earlier warning to staff that a person at risk of falls is making movements which would suggest that they are getting out of bed so that staff can choose to intervene earlier. Although not specifically designed for this purpose, Edge-of-Bed alerts may also play a role in identifying activity close to the edge of the bed. This can indicate a person who is lying close to the edge of the bed is at risk of accidentally rolling or falling out of bed.*
* Out-of-Bed and Edge-of-Bed alerts may indicate a person who is at risk of falling requires assistance. Please remember that Oxevision only provides location and activity based alerts and, as a result, may trigger unexpected Out-of-Bed / Edge-of-Bed alerts in response to other activity in these areas, or miss an alert when a person is getting out of their bed or is at the edge of their bed under some circumstances. You should never rely solely on the system to ensure patient safety and always carry out your usual in-person safety checks. For more information, please refer to the ‘Are there any limitations?’ section below.
How do they help?
Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts are intended to assist staff in caring for their patients by helping them to reduce the risk of injuries or discomfort caused by falls. They are designed to detect specific scenarios when patients are at greater risk of falling while getting out of bed and will notify staff by triggering a visual and audible alert to Oxevision devices.
How do they work?
Note: if an Edge-of-Bed alert is reset by staff whilst a person remains on the edge of their bed, you may see an Edge-of-Bed warning on the room tile. If a person continues to move around whilst sitting on the edge of their bed, the room tile may continue to change between a warning and an alert state:
Let’s look at some examples...
1. A patient is lying in bed, then gets out of bed and walks over to their wardrobe:
.png)
2. A patient sits of the edge of their bed for 5 minutes while having a drink, then stands up and walks towards the middle of their room:
** Note: Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts will not trigger if the room tile is still showing “In Room”. This happens very infrequently when a patient remains very still while sitting of the edge of the bed.
*** Note: If a person continues to move around whilst sitting on the edge of their bed after the alert has been reset, the room tile may continue to change between a warning and an alert state.
3. A patient is lying in bed and slowly rolls so that they are lying near the edge of the bed:
**** Note: If the patient makes small, slow movements or remains still on the edge of the bed, an Edge-of-Bed alert would not be triggered. Remember: the system is looking for a pattern of movement which would indicate they are intending to get out of bed.
4. A patient is lying in bed and then quickly rolls out of bed accidentally:
5. A patient is lying in bed and reaches out of the bed for something on their bedside table:
Are there any limitations?
We make every effort to ensure the optimal performance of Oxevision. However, it is important to know that as we work on making continuous improvements to the system, there are a few situations to be mindful of. If you’re ever in doubt, you can always reach out to Oxehealth who are available 24/7.
Bed location
In order to provide accurate Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts, Oxevision must know where the bed area is. This is determined when the rooms are installed. Small changes in bed location will be detected automatically by Oxevision (<50cm), for example, if a staff member needs to move the bed for cleaning or personal care. However, large moves to another part of the room will require Oxehealth to reconfigure the room.
Please avoid large moves of the bed location unless absolutely necessary as this will prevent Oxevision from correctly detecting a person is “In Bed” and therefore affect the accuracy of Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts. If you do need to move the bed, please contact Oxehealth as soon as possible via the Feedback Form.
Unexpected alerts
Unexpected alerts result from Oxevision triggering Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts when it should not have. Below are examples of when this might happen:
- A patient is lying in bed and reaches out of the bed for something on their bedside table
- The bed has been moved from its original location
- A patient is sitting on the edge of their bed which triggers an Edge-of-Bed alert. A member of staff resets the alert but the patient is swaying back and forth which results in Oxevision repeatedly registering the person as “In Bed” and at the edge of their bed again. This scenario may result in multiple Edge-of-Bed alerts even if a member of staff reset the original alert
- A patient is lying in bed when a staff member comes to check on them, leans over them and then walks away from the bed area. Note: this may also result in the room tile showing “In Room” rather than “In Bed” which could result in missed Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts.
Note: If the system continues to show an inaccurate room state after a member of staff has checked on them, staff should select the “Refresh Room” button. For more information, please refer to the “Refresh Room Reminder Sheet”.
Reminder of when alerts won’t trigger
Oxevision will not trigger Edge-of-Bed and Out-of-Bed alerts in the following scenarios:
- Oxevision fails to detect there is someone “In Bed”, for example, while there is a second person in the room also creating movement
- Someone sits on the edge of the bed for a long time and remains still
- Someone continues to sit on the edge of the bed after a member of staff has reset the Edge-of-Bed alert which may result in the room tile displaying an Edge-of-Bed warning instead
- A patient leaves the bed very suddenly so there isn’t sufficient time for Oxevision to trigger Edge-of-Bed alert before an Out-of-Bed alert.
Things to remember!
- Oxevision is designed to detect as many scenarios as possible for patients getting out of bed but it will not capture all of them - you should never rely solely on the system to detect falls risk and staff should remain vigilant
- If an Edge-of-Bed alert is reset by staff whilst a person remains on the edge of their bed, you may see an Edge-of-Bed warning on the room tile. If a person continues to move around whilst sitting on the edge of their bed, the room tile may continue to change between a warning and an alert state
- You may not always get an Edge-of-Bed alert before an Out-of-Bed alert is a patient has left the bed very suddenly
- Beds should be left in their original location wherever possible (allowing for small movements of <50cm) and staff should contact Oxehealth immediately if that’s not possible
- Oxehealth is available 24/7 if you need support and would like to query the performance of Oxevision.
Up next
