Alarm paused (alarm triangle crossed with dashed lines)
The standard’s wording, as the sources below reproduce it:
“To identify the control for Alarm Paused or to indicate that the alarm system is in the Alarm Paused state.”
IEC 60417-5319, Alarm Paused variant · IEC 60601-1-8 alarm systems
What it means for you
Alarms are held for a limited time and will come back on their own when the pause ends. Hillrom’s glossary: “Indicates the alarm is temporarily disabled or suppressed, preventing it from sounding or generating other alarm signals (e.g., visual signals).” That is the difference from audio paused (a dashed-crossed bell), which silences only the sound while the lights and messages carry on. How long the pause lasts is set by the device and described in its manual.
Whether a device is right for you is a question for your pharmacist, nurse or doctor.
- What it looks like
- The alarm triangle with its sound arc, crossed by an X drawn in dashed lines — often with a small x at the centre where they meet.
- Where you see it
- On the alarm-pause key of patient monitors, and in the alarm area of the screen while a pause is running — Mindray lists it among its monitors’ equipment symbols as “ALARM PAUSED”.
- Other names
- alarms paused; alarm pause; alarm suspended; dashed crossed alarm triangle
What it does not tell you
It does not say how long the pause lasts or which alarms will still get through; that depends on the device and its settings, as its manual explains.
Often confused with
To identify the control for AUDIO PAUSED or to indicate that the ALARM SYSTEM is in the AUDIO PAUSED state.
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 Paused — To identify the control for Alarm Paused or to indicate that the alarm system is in the Alarm Paused state.”, reference “IEC 60417-5319 (DB 2002-11) variant”, drawn as the alarm triangle with a dashed X. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Mindray: iPM 12/iPM 10/iPM 8/iPM 7/iPM 6/iPM 5 Patient Monitor Operator’s Manual — Section 1.2 “Equipment Symbols” shows the dashed-crossed alarm triangle labelled “ALARM PAUSED”; section 7.3.5 says it “indicates alarms are paused”. Checked 2026-09-28.
Plain-language parts are in our own words; quotations are the sources’ wording.