Alarm (triangle with a sound arc)
The standard’s wording, as the sources below reproduce it:
“To indicate an alarm on a control equipment.”
IEC 60417-5307 · IEC 60601-1-8 alarm systems (listed by Biosense Webster under IEC TR 60878)
What it means for you
The equipment has an alarm system, and this control, light or screen area belongs to it. On a patient monitor or infusion pump the triangle usually sits on the alarm key, beside the alarm light, or in the corner of the screen where the alarm status is shown. On its own it does not say that anything is wrong right now: an active alarm is announced by the sound, the flashing light and the message on the screen. The same triangle crossed out, crossed with a dashed line or with an arrow on its left means alarm off, alarm paused or alarm reset.
Whether a device is right for you is a question for your pharmacist, nurse or doctor.
- What it looks like
- An outline triangle, point up, with one short curved line beside its upper right edge — like a sound wave coming off it. It is not a bell.
- Where you see it
- Patient monitors, infusion and syringe pumps, ventilators, oxygen concentrators, dialysis machines and nurse-call panels: on the alarm key, near the alarm lamp, on the alarm connector or in the on-screen alarm area.
- Other names
- general alarm; alarm symbol; triangle with a curved line; alarm, general
What it does not tell you
It does not say what the alarm is about, how urgent it is, or what to do about it — the message on the screen and the device’s instructions do. An urgent-alarm version with two arcs exists (IEC 60417-5308); only one glossary we fetched reproduces it, so it has no page here.
The same triangle, changed
Alarm off · IEC 60417-5319. Crossed out with solid lines: the alarms are switched off, for one measurement or for the whole device, until someone switches them back on. Alarm off explained →
Alarm paused · IEC 60417-5319, variant. The same cross in dashed lines: the alarms are held for a limited time and come back by themselves. Alarm paused explained →
Alarm reset · IEC 60417-5309. An arrow pointing back to a dot on the left: the control that returns the alarm system to its starting state. Alarm reset explained →
Often confused with
To indicate that caution is necessary when operating the device or control close to where the symbol is placed, or to indicate that the current situation needs operator awareness or operator action in order to avoid undesirable consequences.
More symbols in “An alarm triangle or a bell”
Sources
IEC 60417 and IEC 60601-1 are paid standards, so the wording above is quoted as 2 publishers’ public documents reproduce it; our drawing is not the IEC artwork. Each was fetched and read on the date shown:
- Hillrom: Symbols Glossary (80022945 Ver. J) — Row “Alarm, general — To indicate an alarm on a control equipment.”, IEC 60417-5307, with the triangle and one arc; the next row shows “Urgent alarm”, IEC 60417-5308, with two arcs. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Biosense Webster: BWI Symbols Glossary (FORM-3534 Rev C) — Page 7, under “IEC TR 60878 Graphical symbols for electrical equipment in medical practice”: the triangle with one arc, accompanying text “Alarm”, reference 5307. Checked 2026-09-28.
Plain-language parts are in our own words; quotations are the sources’ wording.