Cardiac monitors are crucial medical equipment especially for tracking heart conditions, which is highly crucial for those who have recently or are currently suffering some critical heart condition due to any severe illness and want to improve their quality of life and get back on track to a healthy lifestyle.

In easy, words we can say that a Cardiac(heart) monitor is a way of watching, measuring, and recording the heart’s electrical activity. It keeps user updated about the improvement in their heart condition or if any action needs to be taken on an urgent basis. It has made it easy for patients and even healthcare specialists to manage health conditions better. Detecting irregular heartbeat and rhythm measuring heart health has played a crucial role now in enhancing health, however like other medical equipment, a Cardiac monitor sometimes is also at risk of encountering issues like inaccurate readings, unresponsive screen, connectivity problems or it gets abruptly shut down, which can be a problem if this device is in the current use of someone, who is suffering some kind of severe heart disease and need care.

As a result, it is essential that if you are taking care of them or are currently using a heart monitor to keep your health on track, to how to handle this situation. This is why, in this guideline by Respiratory Zone, we will help you understand How to troubleshoot cardiac monitors at home. That will ensure that you are aware of what to do in the situation when an error happens abruptly, such as an unresponsive screen, inaccurate readings, or connectivity problems, this will help in making troubleshooting your cardiac monitor easy while saving you time, effort, and money. 

Understanding: How to troubleshoot cardiac monitors at home

Here’s a detailed guide to how you can easily troubleshoot cardiac monitors at home and maintain functionality and smooth operation of your device.

1. Understand Your Device

Understanding your device is crucial for its maintenance and dealing with its issues in a better way. So whenever you purchase a new device such as medical equipment make sure that you familiarize yourself with the device’s manual to get a better insight into the working of your heart monitor, as the device manual gives step-by-step instructions on how to use your device in a better way, and guides you better on how to fix troubleshoot issues and effectively operate your device, also helps in utilizing all of the features.

Here is how you can easily familiarize yourself and aware of your monitor’s features and operation:

• Review the User Manual: 

Go through your user manual deeply, at least once so that you can have a better understanding of your device, read all the error message meanings and the reason behind it carefully, and how to resolve the error messages on your own. 

• Know Your Monitor Type:

There are several types of cardiac monitors such as holter monitors or portable ECG devices. So to have a better understanding of your device and accurately resolve issues, it is crucial that your monitor type and model.

2. Check the Basics

To start the troubleshooting procedure of your Cardiac Monitor you must start with the basics, sometime the issue is not due to some critical issue in the system, As there is always a high chance that when something unexpected happens in mostly the medical equipment  and abruptly their functionality and operation get distorted there is majority a minor inconvenience behind that, so before jumping right into any conclusion, it is better to for simple issues that can also cause the problem, here is how to you can start from checking the basics:

• Power Source: 

Often when the cardiac monition shuts down unexpectedly due to a battery issue, As a result, you should check your monitor’s battery first, such as see if your battery is properly charged or not, also if there is a need to change and replace new batteries, if the device utilizes rechargeable batteries, carefully inspect that they are plugged in and charging properly.

• Connections: 

Sometimes the components of the device are not connected properly, which can also cause the issue and show an error message if you are someone who prefers using wired monitors always be considerate about whether the cable of your device is connected and secured properly and if you use wireless sensor make sure that they are joined properly with the base unit. 

• Placement: 

If you are not placing your cardiac monitor as it should be then it can lead to miscalculation, as Improper placement of electrodes or straps has the potential to give inaccurate readings. For more clarification, you can go through your device’s manual to know which placement is better and gives better and more accurate readings. 

3. Address Common Issues

These are the common issues that different cardiac monitors struggle with and can easily be resolved, Here is the list of common issues and how to resolve them:

No Power or Unresponsive Device

If you are struggling with an unexpected shutdown or unresponsive device, here is how you can resolve it by following these simple tips:

• Sometimes, a person forgets to power on the button while changing their device, so make sure that the power button is on and is pressed correctly. Also ensure, to check if your device is connected properly to the charging point. 
• If your power adapter or battery compartment is damaged, there is a high possibility that your device might not get charged at all, so make sure to inspect your power adapter and battery compartment for any damage.
• Try turning your cardiac monitor off for short intervals and after that turn it on again, while turning it back on make sure that your device is connected properly.

 Inaccurate Readings

If your device is showing inaccurate reading and measurement, here are a few things that you can try:

• First start with the simplest thing, such as cleaning the sensor and screen because if it is not clean it makes it difficult to read the exact reading. For cleaning, you can use a soft cloth and wipes and make sure not to damage the exterior of your device in this cleaning process through harsh cloth or cleaning solution. After cleaning, ensure that your device is dirt-free. 
• When it comes to repositioning ( as incorrect positioning can also lead to miscalculation), first make sure that you have read about it in the device manual and repositioned it according to the instructions and guidelines given in it. Also, there is the possibility that your device electrodes need to be cleaned first to get a proper and accurate reading. So make to be careful about its regular cleaning.
• Avoid those action that leads to disrupting signals and leading to mismeasurement and inaccurate reading.

Connectivity Issues

Common issues also happen when your device is not properly to the network, Here is how you can prevent this issue:

• Check your device is connected properly and is within the required range to receive better signals.
• You can opt to restart the monitor ( if the issue is not resolving) and the paired device, after that ensure that they both are ready to be connected and there is no such issue.
• Often updating the app or software can also help in resolving the issue.

Error Messages

As discussed earlier, it is essential for someone relying upon or using medical equipment to be aware of how to identify the error message and the reason behind each of the error messages. Here you can understand those error messages in a better way and can take appropriate action accordingly:

• If you are new to cardiac monitoring and not aware of error messages, first make sure that you read the user manual carefully and get a better understanding of the error messages and what is the reason and action required for it, Follow step-by-step guidelines, properly as instructed in the manual.
• Even after following all the instructions, the issue is still persistent, try restarting your device.

4. Test the Device

If you have tried everything and you are still struggling with getting an accurate result, then try testing your monitor to find the solution. Here is how you can test the monitor:

• Baseline Test: 

Perform a baseline test by comparing the reading with manual methods, if you are currently using a cardiac monitor to measure your blood pressure opt for another device that is easily available for the purpose of measuring the blood pressure and comparing both readings. 

• Environment Check

Ensure that your device is placed in an area that does not cause distraction and is quiet which helps in getting accurate readings.

5. Maintenance Tips to Prevent Issues

You can also few easy tips that can ensure that you can use for cardiac monitor for a longer time. Which will also help in effectively availing its benefits, Following are the maintenance tips to prevent issues:

• Regular Cleaning: 

Make sure to clean the components of your cardiac monitor that need to be cleaned regularly, components like sensors, straps, and electrodes need extra care and are prone to easily get dirty, so once a week clean them with alcohol wipes or a clean cloth.

• Storage: 

For the maintenance of the device, it must be stored properly, so be careful about keeping your monitor in a safe and dirt-free area. Keep it in a cool or dry place.

• Periodic Checks:

Inspecting your device can play a significant role in preventing issues in the future. This is why, you must look for any damage such as wear and tear.

• Battery Care:

Take extra care of your battery, as any default in the battery can lead to an unexpected shutdown of your device, inspect your battery for any damage, and if your batteries need to be replaced, replace them immediately. 

6. When to Seek Professional Help

If the problem persists after troubleshooting, contact the manufacturer or a certified technician. For health-critical devices, do not delay seeking professional assistance.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting for Heart/ Cardiac Monitor:

Why is my heart monitor flashing a green light?

If your heart monitor is flashing green light it means that it is operating normally and properly as it should and you are getting desirable results like live tracking of your heart rate.

Why is my heart monitor flashing a blue light?

A blue light helps in identifying that your device is connected properly and seamlessly integrated with your smartphone.

Why is my heart monitor flashing red?

A red light mostly indicates a problem that has the potential to get accurate results such as if there is a poor connection that is making it difficult to seamlessly integrate with your smartphone or there is any critical issue that needs urgent action and attention.

Why is my heart monitor flashing green at night?

The green light indicates that the device is operating normally and actively monitoring your heart rate, if your heart monitor is flashing a green light at night, it means that your device is operating normally even in low light conditions.