CA2263428A1 - Patient/nurse call system - Google Patents

Abstract

A patient/nurse call system (10) for a hospital includes patient stations (18) capable of generating hospital calls and a remote master station (32) which prioritizes and stores the calls. Hall units (28) outside patient rooms (14) identify the rooms (14) from which the calls originate and the type of call.
Each patient station (18) allows selective retrieval and display of unanswered calls, and the system (10) further permits audio interconnection between any two of the stations (18, 32). Nurse-worn badges (26) transmit pulse-coded infrared signals which are received by receivers (121) at the patient stations (18) and in response, the system (10) generates identity and location signals which are stored at the master station (32). The nurse location and identity information may also be retrieved and displayed at any patient station (18).
Receipt of a nurse's (11) infrared signal at a room station (18) automatically cancels a patient call originating from the room (14) and display thereof by the respective hall unit (28), while actuating a display (122) to indicate nurse (11) presence. By using the nurse call button (22), the patient can establish telephonic communications between the patient station (18) and a wireless telephone (64) being carried by a remotely located nurse.

Description

PAT~ENT/NIIRSE CAL~ SYSTEM

Field of the Invention This invention relates to a hospifal cnmm~nir~tinn system, and mor~ particuiarly, to a user finendly patient/nurse call system with enhanced operational capability F~ack~round rf the Invention Nurses and otiler staff in a hospital ward or hospital wing must work under varying conditions, which include high pressure, stress and lonf~ hours. These c~cg;~ must remain 21ert to respond to p~tien( needs, in emergenc)~ and nnn~ ~ ~ y ~it~ jnn~ Due to economic practicalities and ~he ever-increasin, costs of medical eare, it is necessary to make the most efficient use of nurses and staff on cail in a hospi~al ~vinf~, panicularly at night when nurse and staff levels are m~in1~inrd at a minim,lm On the other hani, a desire to optimize the eff~cienev of nurse and staff personnel is of secondary importanee reiative to providing a hi ~h level of medicai eare. If nurse and staff Ievels are reduced to reduce costs without c~l~f~.cl~-g VfJI Ul lu~ties to improve efficieney, the level of patient care will decrease. One approach to hll;~;llf- th- effieieney of nurses and other hospital staff irtvolves the use of a location and i~1~ n~ tinn system to c ...l;"~ y monitor the locations of these persons. For instance, White U.S. Patent No. 4,275,385 discloses a pc~sonnd locatin, system where individuals to be located wear infrared transmitters, and each transmitter transmiLs a pulse-coded signal whch col-~fJ."~ds to the iderltity of the wearer. fhis inrormation is relayed and displayed at a central eontrol uniL This in~orm~inr- may also be displayed at remote terfninals, used to loc}; restricted-access C~uifJ.~ t or locations, or eonveyed via a telephone interface to a telephone switching networlc to call the nearest tr1~ I.hn.~r or to page the tr~"~mitt~r wearers.
Thus, to eontaet the transrniUer-wear~s, White requires that the location system interconnect with the tdephone svsterfl and/or a pa,ing system. ~fhis required interaction wiLh anolher cnmml~ni~tion system increases the eost and e~~Dlexi~ of ' ~ ith the located p~T~nnn~-l due to the need ~or interfacing rnmpnllrnt~ It also roqmres that p~u~d to oe loeated either wear a receiving deviee, such as a pager, or that they be near a srlrphnTlr US-A-5062151 discloses a similar locating system in which personnel carry infrared transmitters, each generating a unique signal. Each room of a facility includes one or more infrared receivers. Intercoms may be provided in the rooms so that communication can be established when necessary with a detected member of personnel. Alternatively, each room may have a telephone so that incoming calls can be routed via a PABX system to the telephone nearest to where the called party was last detected.

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A number of other U.S. PatenLs also disclose personnel locating or m~nitnnnC sy5terns which purport lo improve upon the systcm disclosed in the White patent. However, these ~-U~ b relate to the ...~ of signal detection, or the fJ~r~ mnint.~n ~nrr and retrieval of stored inforrnation for making reports. These patents do not disclose use of a location system in a marmer which helps nurses and staff do their jobs more effici0tly and more effeetively.
Almost every hospital wing or ward has a patient/nurse call systern which includes an audio network to allow a patient in a hospital room to contact and speak with a nurse or staff member at a nurse station. Typically, the patient may activate a ~c~all" signal by dc~..~s~.g a button on a small housing cnnn~ted via hardwire to a unit mounted to the headwall of the patient room. This small housing is generally referred lo as a pillow speaker, or pillow uniL The headwall unit usually has anoth~ wall-mounted call button for easy operation by a nurse. Other input .. 1~ may include e.. ~ y call buttons, code blue buttons, or bathroom call buttons. Additionally, the audio netwod; of these call systems may be used for audio mnnilnring of a hospital room from the nurse station during an extreme ...-..~,~-.y, such as a code "blue" status.
Hospitals also include e~ r signaling devices for notifying hospital persoMel of other types of e....,~,~..."y cnn-lilinnc, such as smoke detectors or a fire alarm. Typically, these devices generate audio signals to convey audible alarms over a hospital inlercom system, wnich may or may to be interc~nn-rt~ ~ith the patient room audio net~,vork Some hospitals use bed ~ g devices ~ith bed sensors which indicate bed condi~ions,such as "brakes on", mattress firmness (for innatable matlresses), or ,.~ v.,ti..~ ~.'f, EP-A-0505627 describes a patient monitoring system which includes bedside stations for sensing physiological data and means for generating a video image of the respective patients.
Data from the bedside stations is transmitted to a remote control station over a communication system. A two-way audio system between patients and the central station may also be provided.
duplicity of call and in-r,~n~tinn systems in a hospital cnTnrlir~f~c the org~ni7 ~ ion ~ e and effcctive ~ c~min l~inn of all of the useful infirrTn~irln that is generated. If these systems cannot be operated in a simple, user-friendly manner. they can add to the stress level of nurses and staff. As a result, their jobs are m3de more difficult, rather than easier.
Ar~ nn~ y~ use of multiple call and infrrm~ n systems in a hospital adds to the costs of health care, due to costs ~o ;!~i with purch3se, in~t~ io~l and ,.~ of Ihe v3rious c~ ". ~ of these multiple systems, along with training personnel how to use the systern.
Summar~ of the Invcntion~
To overcome the ~ s described above, the present invenlion provides a more advanced hospital I .. .; ~ ;.. ~ ~ system that ~ the efficiency of nurses and staff on call ~n a hospital wing, but in a manner which does not inaease the worl; load or stress levds of these professional ~ . The hospilal co",.. ,.~ ,.).. c syslem of the present invention expands the ~1~ capabilit~ of a p3tientlnurse call system, improves the overall eff~L.~,.,.~ of a hospital personnel locating system, and simplifies the interaction with, and inform~linn retrieval from, a hospital c.. ;. ~ m system. The system of the present invention directlv benefits nurses and staff by inaeasing efficiency and effc~ ~ and reducing stress levels. The hospital cul.u..in.ications system of the present invention ~limin~f~ duplicity hl c~ n systems used within a hospital, lhereby to reduce the costs of purchase, in~r~ n and m~lin~n.~nr~ of thc ~u.,,~,u,,.,,ts of multiple systems~ aiong with reducing the costs ~o~ d with training hospilal staff in lhe use of multiple svslems.

~E~o~O S~ T

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2a Reference is directed to WO-A-95/03596, filed by the present applicants, which discloses a system which also seeks to overcome the above disadvantages, and comprises the features of the pre-characterising portion of Claim 13. According to the invention, the system comprises a wireless telephone; and a hospital PBX connected between the wireless telephone and the master station PBX for providing a data and voice communications link between the wireless telephone and the master station and the plurality of patient locations.
The present invention is directed at a method of providing voice communications between a staff person and a patient in a hospital comprising the steps of:
actuating a pushbutton to initiate a PATIENT call from the patient; and automatically identifying in response to the PATIENT call, a staff person associated with the patient. According to the invention, the method also comprises the steps of automatically initiating a telephone call through a master station PBX, through a hospital PBX to a telephone associated with the staff person in response to the PATIENT call;
detecting the telephone being answered; and opening a voice communication channel between the telephone of the staff person and a speaker, and microphone located near the patient.
Furthermore, the invention also relates to a method of providing voice and data communications between a staff person and a patient in a hospital comprising the steps of:
(a) actuating a nontelephonic unit to initiate a call from the patient to a first staff person associated with the patient;
(b) detecting the call with a first microprocessor located with the patient;
(c) passing the call from the first microprocessor to a master station PBX;
(d) passing the call from the master station PBX to a second microprocessor at a master station associated with the 'L'- ~

2b patient; and (e) identifying a response to the call, a first staff person associated with the patient. According to the invention, the method includes:
(f) initiating a telephone call from the second microprocessor at the master station through the master station PBX through a hospital PBX to a telephone associated with the first staff person;
(g) detecting the telephone being answered;
(h) transmitting a message from the second microprocessor at the master station, through the master station PBX, through a hospital PBX to the telephone, the message identifying the patient and characteristics associated with the call;
(i) transmitting a reply initiated by the first staff person using the telephone, through the hospital PBX, the master station PBX and back to the second microprocessor at the master station; and (j) initiating a subsequent action by second microprocessor at the master station in response to the reply.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a method of providing voice communications between a staff person a patient in a hospital comprising the steps of:
providing an identification number unique to a patient in response to the staff person using a telephone;
automatically transmitting the identification number to a hospital PBX;
automatically passing the identification number through the hospital PBX to a master station PBX;
automatically passing the identification number from the master station PBX to a master station associated with a location of the patient;
automatically opening a voice communications channel between the staff person and the patient through the telephone, the hospital PBX, the master station PBX and a speaker and microphone at the patient location without any physical action being required by the patient.

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According to the pl . ' of the present in~ention and in a.,w.d,ùlce with the described ~ ~ bo~ . a~, a patient/nurse call system for a hospital wing includes a masler station, a plurality of patient stations, (althouEh referred to as "patient" stations, these stations may also be located in nurse or staff nreas) and nurse-worn trnn~nitt~r badges. A private branch exchange (PBX) system inte~wuu~t~ the mast~ station and the other stations. and each room has an intT~n network. The intra-room network includoe a hall unit mounted in the hall way and at least one pstient station, at least one receiv~, and inputs for ~ digital signals related to calls or bed status inf~ tinn The master station provides ~ ; c for the other stations. It receives, stores and sends call in~rm~ u~L~ ~ snd status messages from the stations, and it controls and monitors all aspects of the system. The mast~ station includes a console vith a display, a control wheel and a handset. The master station further includes a personal cornputer with memory capacity for storing hospital calls and nurse location and nfifi~ntion r_ --' generatedbythesystem.
Each patient station in a hospital room is ~o~i~tPd with a single patient bed, although lhe systern could also be configured so that each station would ~ t~ multiple beds. Each patient station includoe a wall-mounted housing with a control wheeL a display, call generation/~nrPII~tic)n bunons, ;~ g lights and an audio speakcr. Nursoe at a patient station can readily retrieve stored, u., u.~ ~ calls or nurse location infn~rn ~i~ from the masler station by operation of the user-friendly control wheel and display.

CA 02263428 1999-02-ll - W 098/08203 PCTrUS97/14733 The private branch exchange operates as a voice/data switching system for ~ct ~-liching audio links and data~ dl~ between the master station and the other stations. The master station int~-,o...,e.,ts with the PBX
via an RS-232 serial data line, and the PBX interconnects with each patient station via a twisted pair telephone line.
The network for the system is basically a telephone network which provides sy~cluu--uu~, full duplex, voice and data S c~ " ~ between any two patient stations or between any patient station and the master station It also allows two way audio links or cr~n~octirnc between mulliple pairs of stations. The PBX is a llall~ya~ L device from the standpoint of signal conlent and It simply provides an audio and data c~.. "", , ;-, ~ ..c link between any two stations upon request.
Each interaction between a patient station and the PBX is actually routed through an input/output board dedicated to the patient room in which the station is located. This I/O board routes all signals to or from the patient room, including generation of calls by input devices, display of calls at the hall unit ACcoriA~ with each room, and generation of a nurse i~ nti firAtinn signal in response to receipt of a pulse-coded signal from a nurse-worn badge.
The I/O board controls the network ACcori~t~d with that patient room, i.e. the intra-room network.
When a PATIENT call is generated at a station, the l/O board signals the hall unit to illnn~inAt~ a display light ~ " ' ' for PATIENT calls. The call is also routed to the master station via the PBX, where it is ~ ~ izc;l according to pnority and then stored. Preferably, the master station c~ ly displays all received and stored calls, and these calls are routed for display at any of the patient stations upon request at the patient station. Similarly, the nurse location and identify infortnAtjr,n can also be retrieved for display at each patient station via operation of the control wheel and the display.
The patient/nurse call system of the present invention generates and prioritizes all types of hospital calls and facilities al~ hlg of these calls from any one of a plurality of nurse stations or patient room stations in a hospital wing. The system has the capability of visually displaying all calls at any station, including stations located in the patient rooms, thereby to facilitate the ~liccpminotir~n of call information amd to expedite l~ ~y~ e to the calls.
Each pahent room station i--t~.~v.u.~ to a plurality of input deviccs for E,~.lc. dlillg the different calls used in a typical hospital, such as SMOKE ALARM, CODE BLUE, STAFF EMERGENCY, etc. These calls include patient g 1, nurse-generated or ;~ mAfirAlly generated calls. Calls may also be generated at one or more of the nurse stations. The calls are for varded to a master station, which y~iu~iLi~cs the calls according to status and time received. Outside of each patient room, in the hall, a hall unit mounted above the doorway displays an indication that a call has ~ from the room. The hall units connect directly to the patient room stations. Each patient room station preferably has a display and selection controls to allow retrieval and display of all calls. Thus, afler 1~ r 1- Ig to a call in a first patient room, a nurse at that patient station can retrieve and display the ~~ " calls and then respond to the highest priority I ~ .._.~l call. The system also provides for audio intc..u .. li~ .
~ between any two stations. This audio i.lt~ ;l capability, along with the display of ulla~ ,d calls, 35 facilities oral c~ among nurse, hospital staffand patients, thereby ylullwlig efficiency in ,. ~y~ 1;"~
to calls.
Preferably, the nurses on duty in the hospital wmg wear nurse locator badges, and these badges transmit pulsed-coded infrared signals to receivers uy~.ali~ly connected to the patient stations. In response, the patient stations generate cu..,~y~ g i~lr~nfifirAtinn signals unique to the wearer of the badge. The system then couples 40 each i~1~ntifirAti~n signal with a location signal to form a signal pair, with the i(1~ntifir ~firn signal cu.- ~

- W O 98/08203 PCT~US97/14733 to the patient station of receipt The signal pairs are ~ Ally downloaded and stored at the master station. This nurse i~ -r A~ ;~ and location; r~ may be displayed at the master station, or at any of the other stations.
This allows a person at any station to visually display the i~l~ ntifirAtinr~C and locations of the nurses on duty in the wing, in addition to ull~h, . . ~1 calls. This c~ " ;-~" of display features optimizes the c~ capabilities 5 among nurses, hospital staff and patients in a hospital wing. Thus, rather than serving primarily as a nurse u,g system, as in some prior nurse locating systems, this system facilitates c~ ion among nurses and staff and optimizes infrlnm~ltir,n flow to nurses and staff in a simple, user-friendly manner, thereby im,~asing efficiency and eff.~.Li~.
In ~ ~ with the nurse locator badges, the system also provides for automatic resetting or r ~nrr-lling 10 of ~ l~trhPd" calls, for example, a patient call, and automatic r:mrPIlinp of the visual display of the call by the e~ . hall unit, after a nurse wearing a badge is sensed by the I~ patient station. Receipt of a nurse signal does not cancel higher prionty "latched" calls, such as CODE BLUE, BAT~OOM call. Preferably, a visual indicator at each patient station indicates that a call has been received. The ~ ,c~ hall unit also visually displays nurse presence within the l~ tl~ patient room. For purposes of this disclosure, a "latched" call requires the 15 physical presence of a person at the location from which the call originated and that person performing a ranrPll~tinn function, for example, pushing a cancel button, in order to reset the call. In contrast, a "nrnl~-trhP(l" call may be cancelled or reset Al~r~m ~tirAIly by the act of the call being answered or ach,u ..ledged which could be by a person at the master station or a person ~ the call with a telephone or by the patient station detecting the presence of a nurse.
In another mode, the nurse or any other person assigned to the patient can be out of the proximity of the master station and a patient station and still be in with the patient. If the person has a tPIPphnnr~
the patient's room number is entered, and a voice s ~- ~ ;f ~-fn link is ~ I~ hf~.~ using the speaker and l~u~luyllullc on the patient station. Alt~,.l,~ti~l,ly, a patient may initiate a call to a nurse using the nurse call button as described above, and if the nurse has a ~PlPrhnnP~ the patient call is routed to the nurse's tr~lPrhr,nP Calls 2 5 generated from ~ m the patient's room can also be routed to the nurse's tr~l~ phr~nP The nurse receiving the call has several options d~ 1; C on the nature of the patient call. For example, the nurse can cause voice to be opened with the speaker on the patient station or, cause the system to establish a reminder call, etc. This mode makes the location of the caregiver invisible to the patient, and it allows the caregiver constant access to the patient 1~ " ~" of location. In addition, the system has the advantage of not changing the protocol of ti for the patient. The patient does not require access to or the capability of using a tPl~-rh~nP The patient can always use the nurse call button, and patient station microphone and speaker regardless of the location of the nurse or other assigned person.
This invention expands the O,U "~ '1 capability of a patient/nurse call system to facilitate locating, ~11 iUlit~ j and 1l , ' e to all types of hospital calls in a systematic way. Because of its simplicity in operation, this improved ~ ., call system reduces the required amount of training time normally Ac~rc~ with learning a new I system~ in addition to reducing the stress level of nurses and staff on duty in a hospital wing.
This improved I '~ c call system provides gPnp~tinn~ storage, retrieval and display of hospital calls, fnPrAtinn storage, retrieval and display of nurse identity and location r ' , automatic display and - ~ling 40 of calls, an audio i..tu..~ ~ ~ between any two stations, and multiple two way audio intercnnn~ rti~ne between .. . . _ .

CA 02263428 1999-02-ll stationpairs. Asaresult,thisinventionreducestheoverallhospitalcosts:~ecori~tPdwithinstallingand".~;"l.;..;..g multiple systems with Juplicdtive and/or overlapping c:~r -hilitiPe thereby resulting in a cost savings to the hospital.
~ fhese and other features and aJva-,~ s of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed dc~ uLiull, together with the drawings herein.

~ricf Des,. il.t; of the Drawines Fig. I is a ~. ~pc~,live view of a portion of a hospital room whieh illustrates one patient station in a patient room and the physieal ~ of some of the other ! ~ ' of a patienVnurse eall system in a~CCII~ C with this invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic which generally depicts the electrical interC~nnPrti~nc arnong the ,c ~ IY and stations of the patienVnurse call system of this invention.
Fig. 3 is a schematic which depicts the eleetrical wiring for a semi-private patient room intereonn~etPd to the patienVnurse call system of this invention.
Fig. 4 is a pLI~,UCctiv~ view of a pulse tl~ g badge for a patienVnurse call system constructed in a.,culda.,ce with this invention.
Fig. S is an electrieal schematic of the badge shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a p~ ,u~,Li~e view of the pillow unit for a patienVnurse call system in à~,~,uldanCC with this invention.
Fig. 7 is a p~ ,liv~, view of a patient station for a patienVnurse call system in aCCOIdallCC with this invention.
Fig. 8 is a pe.~ v. view of a hall unit for a patienVnurse call system in acco--la.~cc- with this invention.
Fig. 9 is a pe-~,u.~liv. view of a bath station or a shower station for a patienVnurse call system in a.... .. ....,u-~lan~,e with this invention.
Fig. 10 is a schematic plan view which depicts a patient hospital bed for a patienVnurse eall system in a.,cul, with this invention.
Fig. I la is an electrieal sehematie whieh shows the eleetrical ec~nnPctinne among the C~ Y of the hall unit for a patienVnurse eall system in accu..la.lce with this invention.
Fig. I Ib is an eleetrieal sehematie whieh shows eleetrieal e~nnPctionc among cc -r-- of the patient station for a patienVnurse eall system in a~,eu.dan~,e with this invention.
Fig. I Ie is an eleetrical sehematie whieh shows eleetrieal e~nn~etinne among e~ .o....~IY of the bed receptaele controller for a patienVnurse eall system in acculdanee with this invention.
Fig. 12 is a p.,.~ . view of a master station for a patienVnurse eall system in dcculdal~ee with this invention.
Fig. 13 is an eleetrical schematic of a pOnion of the master station for a patienVnurse call system in aC.Culddl~GC with this invention.
Fig. 14 is a flowchart of a proeess by which a person ean use a telephone to converse with a patient via the patient station.
Fig. 15 is a flowehart of a process by which a patient can use a nurse call button to initiate a eonversation with another person having a tPI~rh~nP

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- W O 98/08203 PCT~US97/14733 Dctailcd Description of the Drawines I. The Calls Before describing the detailed structure and operation of the patienVnurse call system of this invention, a review of the following table will fAmilislri7e the reader with the types of calls handled by the system and assist S in UUliCl~ dillg the system. The table identif~es the calls generated by the system and provides an inflicatinn of how these calls are generated.

CALLS PRIORITY GENERATED
SMOKE ALARM I :~Utf m~tir~lly/mput device CODE BLUE 2 human operator/input device STAFF EMER&ENCY 3 human operator/input device BATHROOM 4 human operator/input device SHOWER 4 human operator/inputdevice PATIENT EQUIPMENT 5 ~n~om~tir~lly/input device i.e. Bed Status etc.
CHAlR 6 human operator/input device PRIORITY PATENT 6 human operator/input device PAT ENT 7 human operator/input device STAFF 8 human operator/input device A SMOKE ALARM call indicates sensed smoke, l~ Utll~g a fire hazard. A CODE BLUE I c~
an immf~ tf~ life-threatening condition with respect to a patient. A STAFF EMERGENCY leplc~clll~ an urgent need by one nurse or staffmember for ~ f e from one or more other nurses or staff members. A BATHROOM
call is generated by a patient, and it indicates a higher priority of need than a normal PATENT call, due to the 25 increased possibility of danger or the more urgent need for assistance while in the bathroom. A SHOWER call is similar to a BATHROOM call, but it is generated at a different location in the bathroom of the patient room, i.e. the shower stall. A PATIENT EQUIPMENT calls ~,,~ c,-~ a malfunrtir~ning c~ of the system, or a status signal related to a patient or bed nring apparatus. A CHAIR call is basically a patient call generated remotely, as by an IR transmitter. A PRIORITY PATENT call indicates that the call originated from one patient who is a 30 member of a preferred class of patients, for one reason or another. A PATIENT call indicates a normal or standard patient call to the system. A STAFF call indicated a nn . ~,~,..l call placed by a nurse or staffmember.

II. The Hardware Fig. I shows a physical layout of some of the c~ , .f .l~ of a patienVnurse system 10 cu"~llu.,t~l in a~u,~ e with a preferred ~ of the invention~ A patient/nurse call system 10 of this invention organizes, 35 stores, maintains and facilitates retrieval of the various calls placed in a hospital wing or ward, thereby u c~...""----;r"l;nncf~rPhilitip~amongnurses 11 andpatients 12.
More sperifirfllly~ Fig. I shows a patient location in a room 14 Slrcf~s~ihle from a hall 15 of the hospital wing, and a hospital bed 16 located in the room 14. While only one bed is shown, the invention c, . I ' semi-private patient rooms 14, wherein two patient beds 16 are used. Af~itif n~lly~ if desired, the system 10 can be 40configured for more than two beds 16 in a single room 14. A patient station 18 is mounted to a head wall of the patient room 14.
The patient station 18 is connected by a hardwire connector 21 (not shown in Fig. I ) to a bed receptacle controller 20, with connector 21 located behind the headwall of the room 14. A pillow unit 22 connects via cable - W O 98/082~3 PCTrUS97/~4733 23 to a bed outlet or plug 23p of the receptaele 20. Arl~liti~n llly~ a first end of a bed eable 24 plugs into a bed outlet or plug 24p of the receptacle 20, and a second end of the cable 24 eonnects to a bed status controller (not shown) for the hospital bed 16. Near outlet 20, cable 23 and cable 24 include switches 23s and 24s, ~ ly. These switches enable the cables 23 and 24 to be ~Inrll~ggPd without g~ lalillf, an e~ alarm call, referred to as a 5 PATENT EQUIPMENT call. Prefcrably, these switches are dual position for de&~ aLlllg or aetivating an automatic alarm built into the outlet 20. The alarm is always activated unless the switch has been switched open. The alarm remains deactivated a ~ lrl / .;..rd number of seconds after switching, and then it l~a~ t~3. This automatic alarm for pillow units 22 is standard in many hospitals, and nurses 11 have eome to h~ .,ly pull the eonnector from the pillow unit 22 if they need help in a hurry. The switches 23s and 24s allow the system 10 to ~ - ' e 10 this common practice.
Fig. I also shows a badge 26 wom by a nurse 11. The badge 26 clips to the outside of clothing worn by the nurse 11. The badge 26 transmits a pulse-coded signal, prefèrably infrared, which is received by a receiver 121 which is preferably located at the patient station 18, so that the system I 0 can detemmine and c- ,. ,1; . . . ~u~ly update locations of nurses 11 on duty within the hospital wing.
Fig.2 ~ lly illustrates electrical ~ , ,c among hardware ~ aeeording to a preferred ~...1~1;,..~ ..1 of the system 10. More Crpcific~lly~ Fig. 2 shows a plurality of patient loeations eaeh having its own patient station 18 which are intcl~ fd with a master station 32 normally locatcd remotely from the patient stations 18. At the master station 32, the system 10 stores location infommation about the nurses 11, inf ~rm:ltion about hospital calls, infommation about hospital beds in use, the status of the hospital beds in use, instruetions on how to operate the system 10, and a number of other features. Ihe master station 32 classiGes and displays the hospital calls aceording to pnority status and aceording to time reeeived. When the ealls are retrieved by the patient stations 18, they are retrieved in this same order.
Strueturally, the master station 32 includes a color LCD display 34, a video l/O eard 36, a keyboard 40, a eontrol wheel 176, an acoustie Illi~,lu,uhull~ 177, an aeoustic speaker 178 and a handset 179 whieh interconneet with a master station console 38. The master station console 38 serves as the interfaee between these co-.-l.o- - ~ and a master station personal eomputer 43 which preferably includes memory, a hard drive (with at least 4M byte memory capacity), a floppy disc drive, parallel ports, serial ports and a power supply. A keyboard eable 45 jn- ~,ul~ ,t~ the master station eonsole 38 with a video adapter 47, preferably a Yamaha eard. A eoaxial eable 48 supplies electrical power to master eonsole 38 and these ~ and eable 48 illl~,luùllllc~,6 the video interfaee 36 with the video adapter 47, via master station eonsole 38. Another eleetrieal eable 50 int~ ,un~ the master station eonsole 38 with a loader card 52 in the personal computer 43, and cable 50 ineludes two audio (2B+2D) ehannels in a single, eight eonduetor wire. The master station 32 is physieally located at a staff station in the hospital wing, a nurse station of the hûspital wing or a general offiee for the hospital wing.
The personal computer 43 of the master station 32 ~,u-ulc.,li via eables 55, 56, 57, 59 and 61 to other proeessors and . of the system, whieh are preferably loeated within an ~ l eloset or eabinet 53 in the hospital wing. The c~ -t~ loeated within the e.~ I eabinet 53 inelude a eard eage 54 for loeating power distribution eards (not shown) and preferably an PYp~n~ hlP "DXP" private braneh exehange ("PBX") 65, whieh is co~ull.,l.,lally available from Comdial Cu l~o.atiull of Ch~rlottPcville, Virginia. The "DXP" PBX is a voice/data svviteh, and it eontains the neeessary hardware and software to alloeate point-to-point audio links and to distribute data in the form of messages from the master station 32 to the patient stations 18, and vise versa Cable CA 02263428 1999-02-ll - W 098/08203 PCTrUS97/14733 55 includes three audio (2B+2D) channels in a single, eight conductor wire and is cf nn~rte(l to the card cage 54.
Cables 56 and 57 are RS-232 lines illlCI~ g the master PC 43 and the "DXP" PBX 65. An analog interface for an industry standard telephone is preferably provided by two analog-to-digital port CUII~.,IG,~ 58, 60 connected in lines 59, 61, respectively. The port converters 58, 60 make the digital ports on the "DXP" PBX 65 appear as analog ports to a the voice card 51 in the master PC 43. The analog-to-digital port converters 58, 60 are preferably units compatible with the "DXP" PBX which are commercially available from Comdial Corporation of Charlottesville, Virginia; and the voice card is preferably model no. D/4 ID cornmercially available from Dialogic Corp. of Pf~ ~ly, New Jersey. The "DXP" PBX 65 is connected by one or more trunk lines 62 to a hospital PBX
63. The hospital PBX 63 then runctions to establish either wired or wireless ~ ;-, with a caregiver telephone 64.
The master station 32 occupies three audio stations. The "DXP" PBX 65 can connect five 15-channel cards, or seventy-seven patient stations plus the master station 32. Each power rlictrib~ltirln card in the card cage 54 can connect a maximum of sixteen audio stations. An expanded "DXP" PBX 65 and cabinet 53 can allow a total of one hundred and ninety-two audio stations or one hundred and eighty nine patient stations 18 plus one master station 32 (which requires three audio lines). This expanded capability requires one "DXP" PBX 65 with an eypAncifln cabinet (not shown) and twelve power distribution cards. Eventually, intercr~nn~rti.~n of additional master stations 32 could further expand the capability of the system 10. Power supply 66 supplies electrical power to the "DXP"
PBX 65. Power supply 64 and a battery backup 67 are connected to card cage 54 and supply electrical power to the other c~ ..,....lc in the cabinet 53.
An electrical cable 68 connects one of the power distribution cards of the card cage 54 to a patient room 1/0 board 70. Each hospital room 14 in the hospital wing includes an l/O board 70, and this lJO board 70 includes multiple c~ and inputs for g..lcl~.lh,g calls from the room 14. Figure 2 shows patient room 14a connected to card cage 54 via cable 68a, and patient rooms 14b and 14c connected via cables 68b and 68c, lc~,~,c.,li~.ly. The I/O board 70 and its in- ~,ulll,c.Led c~,.pr~ c comprise the intra-room network. C~ ir~n among c.,~ .- .. tc crlnnf~ctf~rl to I/O board 70 occurs over two wire, half duplex, multidrop E~A RS485 standard, with message exchange being peer to peer. Any device on the intra-room network can send data to any other device without waiting for a poll. The intra-room network is not trancfrlrm~r isolated.Each patient station 18 interfaces with the "DXP" PBX 65 over a two-wire twisted pair network (Motorola UDLT 2B+2D), and messages are ~ and received between the stations 18 and the "DXP" PBX 65 over the D-channel. Messages received by the "DXP" PBX 65 from the patient stations 18 are i ~1 to the master stahon PC 43, and messages received by patient stations 18 originate at the master station PC 43. Patient stations 18 cannot send messages directly to each other. A patient station 18 and/or the master station PC 43 can transmit a message at any time. At the master station PC 43, a COMDIAL- supplied library called the ENTERPRZ handles the interface with the "DXP" PBX 65. All messages that the system 10 wishes to pass to a patient station 18 are converted to a form that the ENTERPRZ library can accept. The ENTERPRZ library has only one function, for passing messages to stations 18 on the network. This function can only accept 16 bytes of infrmnAtirn at a time, and the bytes must be printable ASCII rhgrArtf-r~ The d~ ir l~ address is also passed as part of this function. The ENTERPRZ libraly then embeds this;, ~r ~- ., ~ into it's own link-level protocol, with it's own control i nfrmn-tirn including ~ ... , address and .1 ' , etc., and sends it as a packet to the "DXP" PBX 65.

CA 02263428 1999-02-ll - W O ~8/OY~O~ PCTAUS97/14733 With respect to patient room 14a shown in Fig. 2, patiellt stations 18a and 18b connect to the l/O board 70viacables71aand71b,~ ly. Bedreceptacles20aand20bcomnecttostationsl8aandl8bviacables21a and 21b, l~a~ 1y. Cable 24a intelw)mlL"ls a bed status controller 72a to the bed receptacle 20a, and cable 23a connects the pillow unit 22a to the bed receptacle 20a. Patient station 18b includes similar cnnn~rtinnc Additionally, hall unit 28 connects to the I/O board 70 via connector 73. Bnth, or bathroom, station 74 connects to I/O board 70 via connector 76. Shower station 78 connects to I/O board 70 via connector 79. Remote code station 81 connects to I/O board 70 via connector 82. Remote staff station 84 connects to l/O board 70 via connector 85. Bath station 74, shower station 7B, remote code station 81 and remote staff station 84 are adapted to be actuated to generate BATI~ROOM, SHOWER, CODE BLIJE and STAFF calls, l~c~ , to the system 10 from patient room 14a. With respect to bathroom station 74 and shower station 78, the calls generated are assigned a higher priority than a normal patient call generated by the button on the pillow speaker. This is due to the increased urgency ~lCeori~tl~d with a patient's need for help when in the bathroom, and an even higher need for urgency when in the shower. Remote code station 81 generates a code blue call. Remote staff station 84 generates a staff call. A~ ition~ y, each of patient stations 18a and 18b also permits generation of a CODE BLUE call and a STAFF EMERGENCY call.
Fig. 2 also shows one of the nurse-worn badges 26 which - ~~~ with the patient station 18a via infrared signaling. The system 10 may include a chair call device 86 which also c~ with the patient station 18 via pulsed infrared signaling. The chair call device 86 may be used by a patient 12 to generate a call, d~cign~t~d a CHAIR call, when he or she is away from the pillow unit 22.
Fig. 3 is a schematic wiring diagram which shows the c~ o.. ~ between the master station 32 and a patient room 14, but in somewhat more detail than Fig. 2. More q-erifir llly, Fig. 3 shows one of the power distribution eards 87 housed within card cage 54 (Fig. 2). Each power distribution card 87 ineludes sixteen one-channel ports 87a, five three-channel ports 87b, eight two-channel ports 87c, a data port 87d which connects to the "DXP" PBX 65, and four parallel power ports 87e. Distribution card 87 also includes a plurality, preferably 20, one-amp fuses (not shown) with each fuse C~ n1 -l - E to one of the single channel parts 87a. Preferably, cable 55 eonnects the bottnmm~st of the single channel ports 87a to the loader eard 52. In this eonfiguration, the two lowest two-ehannel ports 87c eannot be used. Moving upwardly from the bott~ of the one-channel ports 87a, the next three ports are df~ei~n~t~d loader, master voiee, and master monitor. The up~ of the one-channel ports 87a is .1. ~ tl~d as a booster port.
The ports of the power distribution card 87 designate the addresses for the patient stations 18. Between the power ~ d~ eards 87 and the various stations 18 within the room 14, i.e., the intra-room networlc, the call signals and nurse; r ~ . signals do not include an address or a location signal. When calls are generated within the patient rooms 14, eaeh eall is routed to the distribution eard 87 via tl e port d~ " ~t~d for that specific station 18, and the signal is further conveyed from the power distribution card 87 to the master station 32, but with a signal address appended thereto by the "DXP" PBX 65 to designate the specific station 18. Signalling between the "DXP"
PBX 65, the loader card 52 and the master station 32 is via a serial data string on an RS-232 line, and eaeh data string ineludes call information (or nurse location inf~ ion) combined with location infnrm-~finn related to a partieular patient station 18. The intc.. ~.. --~ ~ IIIIA between the loader eard 52 and the b~ .. ,,t of the single ehannel ports 87a is used to download software instruetions from the master station 32 to the I/O boards 70 and the 40 stations 18. This feature will be described in more detailed in a later section.

As shown in Fig. 3, the I/O board 70 for a patient room 14 provides an interface between the power distribution cards 87 and the stations 18 and hall units 28. More specifir~lly, each I/O board 70 includes a plurality of ports 70a, each of which may be connected via a cable 71 to a patient station 18 . Additional output ports 70b are configured to be cnnn~c~ to the hall unit 28 via a connector 73. Ports 70a or 70b may also be used for one or more additional stations such as a bath station 74, a shower station 78, remote code station 81 or remote staff station 84, depPn~ling upon the needs of the particular hospital wing.
Fig. 4 is a p~.la~ul,~fi~, view of a h~ ,~",ilf ~\n badge 26 worn by nurses 11 assigned for duty within the hospital wing, in acco--L.i~cf with a preferred rll~hO~ ~It of the invention. The badge 26 includes a housing 90, which is preferably made of molded plastic, two light emitting diodes 92 for ll~ g pulse-coded infrared signals, and a spnng biased clip 94 which enables the badge 26 to be clipped to thc clothing of the nurse 11. The badge 26 weights about one ounce and it is applu,~il..L~ely 2.75" x 1.25" x 0.5". The badge 26 transmits a pulse-coded, mo~ ' infrared packet every six to eight seconds. The pulses are of fixed length and fixed ~nnplh~ e Fig. 5 is an electrical circuit schematic which shows the c~ and int~l~.,.. ~linne among the components of the badge 26, which preferably transmits pulsed-coded infrared signals(~940nm wa~,~l~".,5lll).
15 According to the invention, a pulse or lack of a pulse within a prescribed time slot ICyl~a~.lta either a logic I or a logic 0. A pulse (logic 1) comprises several cycles of a 36 KHz signal. Each packet COlll~UllSca 33 total bits, including a start bit, 16 data bits and 16 inverted data bits. TrRnemieginn of the inverted 16 data bits insures integrity of the packet. If desired, ~fl(litinn~l start bits may be used. Use of 16 data bits allows for 65,535 unique code numbers. Some of the code numbers may be reserved ~or future applir~tin~lc, while a number of the code numbers 20 are dedicated solely for the purpose of nurse idf nfifirz~tinn The 16 data bits which identify the particular badge 26 are pret'erably stored internally in an EPROM located in the badge 26.
The followmg table identifies internal C.. pf~.. 1~ of the badge 26 which applicant has used ellccPqqfi-lly.

TABLE II
MANUFACTURER MODEL# ITEM DESIGNATION #
MicroChip PIC16C54 Microcontroller 95 Sanyo CR2450 Battery 96 Siemens SFH415-U IR LEDs (2) 92 Motorola MTD3055EL FET 97 Illinois Cap. 470uF6VDC Transistor (3) 98 National 2N2222 Transistor 99 Murata Erie 2Mhz Resonator 100 Thcse f ~- .,1--, ,-t~ are mounted on a printed board, which may be a PCB made by DSI. The I~ u-,u~huller 95 has a power saving mode (about 14 IlllI,lUcullUa) that is referred to as "sleep". During sleep, a watchdog timer continues to run and will "wake up" the Illi~,~u-,ul-huller 95 after ~lpUlU~ y two seconds. Since the badge 26 transmits the signal al~,UI~ ' ~y every six seconds, there is a sleep count register initially set to two spaces. Each time the u~u~-huller 95 "wakes up", it checks the sleep count register to determine if six seconds have expired.
If six seconds have not expired, the ~ u~.ul~h ul]cr 95 d~ the sleep count and goes back to sleep. If six seconds have expired, i.e., the sleep count is zero, and the ~ u-,u~huller 95 reads the 26 bits of internal memor,v that contain the encoded if lf~ntifir~tion number. Initially, the start or parity bit is clocked out and is then followed by the 26 data bits. The ~ ,lu~ulltluller 95 generates the 36 KHz carrier and the timing for each bit. The field effect transistor 97 and the transistor 99 drive the two LEDs 92 which emit the infrared signal packet. After a packet has CA 02263428 1999-02-ll - W0~8/OY~3 PCT~US97/14733 been sent, the sleep count is rPinifi:lli7Pd and the ~,..clu"u.,l,uller 95 goes back tû sleep. If it is desired to transmit from the badge 26 less frequently, perhaps every eight seconds, the sleep count register is initially set to three spaces.
The battery 96 for the badge 26 is designed to operate c~ / for fûur months. 1'he particular battery 96 chosen for this badge 26 requires an industrial grade (500 mAh +) CR-2450, due to its power r ~p~hiliti~e. The chair call 5 86 can be made by modifying the circuitry of the badge 26 to include an OFF/ON switch so that transmission is not contim-o~ls, and by ~..o~, ' g a different code, i.e., a CHAIR call, into an EPROM housed therein.
Fig. 6 shows a perspcctive view of a pillow unit 22. The pillow unit 22 u~el~ .,ly COMects to outlet 20 via connector 23. The pillow unit 22 includes a molded plastic hûusing 103, acoustical speaker 104 and a nurse call button 105. Depression of nurse call button 105 gcnerates a patient call from the le~)cctiv~ patient station 18.
Preferably, the pillow unit 22 further includes a television on/off power button 106, chaMel selectors 107 and light switches 108. Additionnl controls may include light dim switches nnd television volume controls. These signals may be trnnsmitted along conductors routed within coMector 23, or they may be IR signals.
Fig. 7 shûws a ye,~ .,Li~,~ view of the patient station 18. The patient station includes a molded housing 112 which coMects to the head wall, preferably by screws. A voice ~--i,., ulJLoll~ 113 is located OIl the right side of the housing 112, and an audio speaker 114 resides on the lefl side of the housing 112. Pushbutton 115 generates a "latched" staff emergency call, and ,u~ u~ 116 cancels the call. Control wheel 117 Operates in conjunction with a displny 118 to control retrieval of information from the master station 32 for display at the patient station 18.
Preferably, the display 118 is a two-line by sixteen character LCD display.
More spccifically, display 18 includes a curser which points to one of three dPcien~llinne~ STATION, 20 STAFF, WAITING CALL. Rotation of the control wheel 117 moves the curser between these three ~i~rig ~j-mc With the curser pointing at one of the ~Peienltinnc, .I~ sl(,n of the control wheel 117 selects the function ..tcd by that ~ fi. ." If WAmNG CALL is selected, the patient station 18 displays the u,~ d calls stored in the system 10 at the master station 32 Because of the limited amount of space on display 118, the user must rotate control wheel 117 to scroll the waiting calls. If STAFF is selecled, the display 118 visually indicates all staft'presently on duty in the hospital wing, plus the current, stored location infnnn~tinn for the nurses 11 derived from the badges 26. If STATION is selected, a STAFF call is initiated. The user interface for the patient station 18 is menu driven, and this interface is more fully explained in Appendix B of Section m, entitled "Operation".
The patient station 18 further includes a receiver 121 adapted to receive the pulse-coded signals tr:ln cnnitlr~rl from the badges 26 and thereby generate location signals for nurses 11 wearing the badges 26. If desired, the housing 112 may also include one or more LEDs 122 which indicate one or more of the following c~n~litionc, a call placed from the station 18, audio channel open to the station 18 or receipt of an IR signal from a badge 26. The "u-,u~tluller coMected to the receiver 121 performs three tasks. It receives, decodes and validates pulsed signals from the badges 26. It maintains the status of the ~ tjfir~firm signals generated in response to receipt of the IR
signals, and ' the status; ~f~ , to the other ~ u"- ,l~; of the intra-room network for the particular station 18, namely, one of the indicator lights on housing 112, the indicator lights 126 or 127 at hall unit 128, and inpuVoutput board 70.
Upon initial receipt of a signal from a badge 26, a ucul~L~uller of the receiver 121 starts a bit timer (after delaying for one half of a valid bit width). After the bit timer expires, the receiver 121 samples the signal from the front end. If the signal is ~GH, the bit is a 1, if the signal is LOW, the bit is 0. Sampling continues for all CUII~UL~ , bits. The ~ ucu-~t uller must receive a thirteen bit string which is matched by a s~hseqll~nt thirteen - W 098/08203 PCTrUS97/14733 bit string, but inverted, for the packet to be valid. If a start bit is received but no data or invalid data is received, receiver 121 considers this to be noise or a "packet collisions" between other badges 26 and no signals are validated.
For each valid i~ntifirAtinn signal received, a separate timer keeps track of its presence. Each time an existing iflPntifira~inn signal is received, the timer for that signal is reset to zero. If the timer reaches thirteen seconds without receiving a ~ 5~ signal, i.e., two cu~ ,uli~ t~ "c if trAn~mi~ n occurs every six seconds, the system 10 assumes that the nurse 11 wearing that badge 26 has lefl the room 14, and that particular i~lf-n~ifirA~Inn signal is deleted from the table. If there is at least one if lrntifirAtinn signal registered for a room 14, aDd an invalid packet is received, the soRware for the receiver 121 assumes that the received invalid signal was an attempt to update the table. As a result, for each of the i~lf-ntifiratinn signals in the table, the timer is set to zero as if a valid packet has been received. However, this may only happen once before another valid signal is received.
Otherwise, receiver 121 deletes the l(lrntifirAtif~n signal from the table. Thus, normal operation requires that the nurse 11 be out of the room 14 for a ~ h~.~~ll of thirteen seconds before "checking the nurse out" i.e., deleting him or her from the table, or upon receipt of the nurse's signal at another station, ~hi~ occurs first.
The top of housiDg 112 includes a lever 120 for g. ,~ g a CODE BLUE call.- Preferably, the lever 120 is pulled to initiate a CODE BLUE call. The lever maintains thc pulled position. A CODE BLUE call is cancelled by first, pushing the lever 120 back to its original position and second, pushing the CANCEL pushbutton 116. The design and a.l~-~ .cl-l of the c-.",y.~ ; of the patient station 18 facilitates nurse 11 ~Iclioll with this patient/nurse call system 10. Use of nurse locating badges 26 in ~u~ li";~ with the display 118 and the control wheel 117 optrmizes; ~ . . tj~ ~ nOw and verbal ~ e- ~ among nurses 11 on duty within a hospital wing. Thus, the system 10 utilizes nurse locator badges 26 to help nurses 11 become more efficient in their duties, rather than simply g their ~.h..~,.3buuls. Although the receiver 121 is mounted within housing 112 of a patient station 18, it may be physically removed therefrom and placed in a more cu--~ t location for detecting signals from the badges 26, if desired. The receiver 121 is preferably an infrared receiver, (such as a Siemens Model Number SFH-506-36), which provides automatic gain control, band pass filtering, flf m~ ' ' and wave shaping. Thus, the 25 output of receiver 121 may be routed directly to an interrupt input of a llf~,lu~,u.~t~uller (not shown) for the patient room 14. The receiver 121 maintains a table of all badges 26 located in the room 14. When a badge exits a room 14, the receiver 121 adjusts the table and informs the system 10 of the change. Because this table is ...~
locally, i.e., at the locator receiver, only changes in the table are signaled to the station 18 and the rest of the system 10.
Fig. 8 shows a hall unit 28 located outside each patient room 14 in the hospital wing. The hall unit 28 includes a molded housing 124, which includes a base or mounting plate 125 and a ylulllldillg section 128 which includes indicator lights 126 and 127 for indicating when patient calls have been generated at patient stations 1 8a and 18b, ~y~ ,ly~ and am ' g light 132 which illllminat-o~ upon g~on~r:~if)n of a CODE BLUE call, a STAFF EMERGENCY call, a BATHROOM call or a SHOWER call. Preferably, inflirAting light 132 flashes according to one of a number of different predetermined patterns or ~lu- r ~, with each pattern dedicated one of these "higher priority" calls. ~f~flitiflnally~ an audible alarm may also sound to indicate one of these higher prionty calls.
An imdicating light 130 illllminAtl i when a signal from a badge 26 has been received by the receiver 121.
Preferably, upon receipt by the receiver 121 of an infrared signal from a badge 26, the patient station 18 40 al-t~n~ntirAlly cancels any PATENT call placed from that particular station 18. This cancels ill.,.";"~ " of CA 02263428 1999-02-ll indicating light 126 or 127, ~ g upon the particular station 18. Thus, nurse presence in the room 14 is indicated via illu~ninnfir~n of an indicating light 130 located in the hall 15 and/or another indicating light mounted to housing 112 at the station 18.
Additionally, each of the lights of the hall units 28 may include a test button which, when depressed, 5 actuates the lights, thereby to indicate to nurses that the hall unit 2g is operating correctly. Alternatively, an LED
associated with each light of the hall unit may activate upon sensing a burnt out condition. If desired, this signal may also be conveyed to the master statjon 32. Fig. 9 shows a bathroom station 74. Preferably, the station 74 includes a housing 134, a pull bar 135 and a slide 136 connected to the pull bar 135. A patient's pulling of the pull bar ] 35 will initiate a BATHROOM call, or a Si IOWER call. If it desired that the call be a "latched", that is, one that camlot be cancelled by the act of answering the call, the station 74 may also include a pnehhllttnn 137 for cnnr~liing the call.
Fig. 10 silows a hospital bed 16 intercoMected with the patient/nurse call system 10 of this invention. Thc bed 16 includes a headboard 140, a footboard 141, head siderails 143, foot siderails 144 and a mattress having head and foot ends 146 and 148, ~ ue~ ly The mattress may be covered intermediate ends 146 and ]48 by an ~... ~I ;.... ~P detection pad 147. The mattress preferably can be inflatable and can be raised, lowered or anchored.
Bed 16 also includes a phlrality of sensors which sense cr~n~iitir~ne in the bed 16. These c~-nriifir,n.c may include, but are not limited to, ground fault, bed down, brake not set, bed power, head or foot end raised 30~ or higher for longer than a prescribed time, mattress excessive air loss, bed exit armed, bed exited, head or foot siderails latched or ;,..fi.... ~ re detected, as disclosed in applicant's co-pending U.S. Patent Ai~FIir~fir~n Serial No. 08/145,767, filed 20 on 10-29-93, entitled 1.. "~;.. ~ c Detection Device, which is cxpressly incorporated by rcference herein in its enbrety.
Ail ofthe bed status sensors generate signals which are fed to a bed control unit 149. This control unit 149 may include visual displays for indicating the status of the bed 16 at the footboard 141. In a.,cu, ~I~.ce with this invention, the bed control unit 149 also connects, via cable 24, to the bed outlet 20, and the bed status signals are 25 transmitted to master station 32 for storage and sllhse(ll-Pnt retrieval. An operator at the master station 32 may determme the status of each of the bed cr~nrlifir~nc and react accordingly, if necessary. Preferably, each bed 16 also has a serial number assigned thereto during mqnllf~lrt~re. This serial number may be read from the bed 16 to the master station 10 so that the system 10 can keep track of the location and amourlt of use for each bed 16, and/or mnintPn~lnre p~ .l.cd or needed over the useful life.
Fig. I IA shows electrical cr~nnPc~ir~ne for ~ - ~ of l/O board 70. More qlPrifirnlly, the I/O board 70 includes a receptacle 150 which i--t~. ~ol~c.,l~ ~,vith the "DXP" PBX 65. RJ45 RPrPpt~lrles I S 1 a, 15 lb and 151 c are adapted to be connected with inputs from patient station 18a, 18b and 18c, lu~ .1y (for a room with three stations) An ~ ifions~ h~,lC 151 d is reserved for a spare room bus. If a patient room 14 only includes two stations 18, the receptacle 151c would serve as an additional spare. The l/O board 70 further includes a 35 l~ uwl~llullerl52andadditionalRJ45recept~rlec~l5le~l5lf~l5lg~l5lh~l5liandl5ljforintc~ ir~with the hall unit, an aA~ irn~l CODE BLUE station, a BATHROOM, (or TOILET) station, the SHOWER station, the STAFF EMERGENCY station and the SMOKE ALARM station, l~ .ly. In conjunction with a ll~ls.,~ 153, thel-li~,lu~,ulllloller 152 -withthestations 18a, 18band 18ctocontroloperationoflampdrivers 154 which control actuation of the lights, 126, 127, 130 and 132 at the hall unit 28.

... , ~ . .. . . . ...... , . . . ., . ~ .

Fig. I lA also shows that 8 CODE BLUE receptacle 151f, the BATHROOM receptacle 151g, the SHOWER
receptaclel51handtheSTAFFEMERGENCYreceptacle 151ialsointercoMectwithhallunitreceptacle 151eand LED drivers 155. This permits actuation of light 132 at the hall unit 28 upon generation of a CODE BLUE call, a BAT~OOM call, a SHOWER call or a STAFF EMERGENCY call, lc~l~efti~,~ly from the patient room 14. The microcontroller 152 and LED drivers 155 control operation of light 132 so that it flashes according to a prf~tf nninf fl sequence which is unique to the type of "higher pnority" call which has been generated. Thus, a nurse I l in the hallway 15 may readily determine which of these "higher priority" calls has been generated from the room 14. In addition to flashing of light 132 according to a predetPrnAinf~d sequence which CUII~:~IJUIIdX to the high priority call that has been generated, an audible alarm may also be sounded, with the sounds actuated according to tone ] O and/or sequence in a !,lc(l~ t' 1 .~ manner, thus enabling a nurse 11 to audibly identify which type of high priority call has been generated from the room 14.
Fig. I IB shows the electrical illlcl~ul~ lions at each of the patient stations 18. Operations at the patient station 18 are controlled by a ~ ulltluller 162 which l~f-~ f'C with other c~ c of the I/O board 70 via a llhl~cl~, 163. Preferably, the Illl.,l.,cf llLIuller l 62 is an lntel 87C52, and the tl ~. 163 is a Linear Tech LEC485. Mi.,lu.,ulltluller 162 of the patient station 18 controls operation of the inputs and the outputs mounted to housing 112. Patient station 18 also includes a random access memory flf'CignAtf'd 164, and a llli~ ,ll,ollitor 165, which is preferably a Dallas DS1232.
Fig. 12 shows a pCl:~lJC~,tiVC view of a master station 32 for the patienVnurse call system 10 of this invention. The mastcr station 32 includes a display 34, which is preferably a color liquid crystal display, a retractable keyboard 40 which slides ~ the control panel 174, a rotatable control wheel ] 76 which mounts to the panel 174,anaudiollu~,lu~,hul~177andanaudiospeakerl78whichalsomountstothepanell74. Masterstation32also includes a handset 179. With calls displayed on display 34, lifting the handset 179 initiates an audio link with the patient station 18 which generates the highest priority call stored at the master station 32. If the control wheel 176 is rotated to "highlight" a different call, depressing the control whecl 176 will open a two way audio link with the patient station 18 which generated the "highlight~A(l" call. The control wheel 176 can also be rotated to highlight the telephone handset ~ ,.. 181, and d. ~ slllg the control wheel 176 initiates a phone call mode. Thereafter, a menu appears on the screen which requires the user to select the type of call to be made, for example, Patient, Location, Staff or Staff Telephone. If Patient is chosen, patient names are listed on the screen. The control wheel is rotated to highlight the name of a patient on the screen and then, d~"l e~illg the control wheel will open a two way 30 audio link between the master stahon 32 and the selected patient station 18. If Location is chosen, a list of locations is displayed on the screen; and the control wheel is used to select the desired location, afterwhich a voice c~ channel is opened between the master station and a patient station at that location. If Staff is chosen, a list of staff names is displayed on the screen. Upon using the control wheel 176 to chose a staff name, the system d~ t~ ' the most recent location of that person and opens a voice c- " ~ - - -- ;- ~1; t~n channel between the 35 master station and the patient station at that location. If StaffTelephone is chosen, a list of staff names who have l.h....~ is displayed on the screen. The control wheel is then used to select a staff name; and as will be described in more detail, the system lly enters the telephone number of the selected staff in order to provide a c.,...,...".;. Al;nn channel using the master station and the staffmember's telephone.
Fig. 13 shows electrical ~ among the non-video c~ x at the master station 32. Block 184 ~PqienAtPe the control logic for controlling opr~rAtir)nq at the master station 32. This includes a pl~

- W O 98/08203 PCTrUS97/14733 u-,ullLluller~ an EPROM, a RAM, and ~ Pd ASIC which, together, eontrol ûverall operation of the system ~ 10. This control logie interfaces with a pair of l~ r ~ .188 mounted oll the loader card 52. The microcontroller 186 further connects to a hook switch 190, a handset 179 and ...ic- upllullC 177 via an audio ringing eode filter 192, two nudio speakers 178 via a second audio ringing code filter 194, an anaiog/multiplex switch 195 and an audio nmplifier 196. Volume control 198 enables an operator at the master station 32 to control volume of the speaker 178 with a microphone 177.

m ODeration At startup, the operational soflware which actunlly controls the patient station 18 is dynamically downloaded from the master station 32. This allows softwnre updates nnd mnrlifirAtinne to be ~ . llr~ without having to change a PROM in the patient stations 18. All patient stations 18 have a smnll progrnm cnlled the LOADER which is pPnnAnPntly stored in the 8K of progMm spnce on the 8752 l~iCIuplùCC-~SOI that serves as the CPU for each station. The main function of the LOADER program is to receive the downloaded operational softwnre, which is stored in the 64K of RAM spnee of the pntient station 18 as it is received. When the download is complete, the LOADER program first performs a ehecksum test to determine if the downloaded softwnre is error-free, and if so, then switches the 1~l oc~u- s'~ program exeeution aren to RAM, thereby beginning exeeution of the downloaded program. This allows for the running of a much larger program than could fit into the 8752's on-chip program area.
Currently, the RAM exP~ r progrnm area is configured to be alJ~/lU~llU tcly 48K in size, with an aMlsinnAl 16K
of RAM reserved for data space.
Three Lald~alJsulL~al~ It~ are involved m the downlond process (in addition to the "DXP" PBX
65), as well as three data channels. The hardware/soflware e~lmronPnSe are the patient station 18, the loader card 52 and the master station PC 43. The data channels are the D-channel, the B-channel, and the RS-232 serial data link. The loader card 52 resides in the master station PC 43 and c~ ";~ Pe therewith over the RS-232 link. It also cnmm~lnirAtee with the "DXP" PBX 65. To the "DXP" PBX 65, it looks like just another patient station 18.
The bmary image of the sofhvare to oe downloaded to the patient station 18 is first transmitted to the loader card 52 over the serial data link. The loader eard 52, upon reeeipt of the appropriate command from the master station PC
43, then transmits the bmary image of the station software over the B-ehannel, whieh operates normally as the audio ehannel and whieh is mueh faster than the D-channel. The D-channel is used by all three c~ for syn~ ul~tiull and eontrol. The loader wd 52 enmmll- with the master station PC 43 over a serial data link.
Aetually, the loader eard 52 looks like a serial adapter eard to the master station PC 43 and is eonfigured to c~ " "" " ", ,, A with the master station PC 43 over the COM4 ehannel at 19.2k baud, with 8 data bits, no parity bits, and I stop bit.
When the qrrlir ~ion software for the system 10 boots up on the master station PC 43, it looks for a file ealled "SEND.BIN" in the default direetory. This file is a binary image of the downloadable station software. It is tr~nemitte(l to the loader eard 52 in 256 byte blocks, plus a relatively small header block at the start. This 35 t.i~ . is essentially p."ro~lled in the ~--kg uu~ld, so that the system 10 can perform other functions at the snme time. The downloading to the loader eard 52 usually takes about 30 seconds. When the loader eard 52 reeeives the last block, it ealeulates an EXCLUSIVE-OR sum and a normal sum of a data reeeived and compares the 2 sums with the 2 reeeived, l - ~ ,-c If they mateh, it sends baek an ASCII 'O' followed by an ASCII 'OR' to the software - W O 98/08203 PCT~US97/14733 of the master station 32. This c~ n~titlltPs an acknowl~lgr~ and the mastcr station 32 considers the loader card 52 ready to download to the patient stations 18. The loader card 52 now has the binary image.
In the downloading process, the D-channel is used for syn~luù.,i~dtion and control, as well as for requests and responses. When a patient station 18 is first powered up, it performs a test to determine if it has downloaded soRware present (RAM is kept electrically charged for a few hours when there is no power to the station 18, so the station 18 software in RAM can be retained with no power) and performs a checksum test to determine if the software is valid. If so, the station 18 begins running the soRware in RAM. If it has no soflware in RAM or determines that the software is invalid, it begins sending 'download request' messages over the D-channel, to the master station 32. By default, these requests are sent once every 60 seconds. When the software at the master 10 station 32 receives a request, if it is not currently waitiulg for a download to another station 18 to completc, it initiates the download process by sending a 'prepare for download' message to the station 18 and then sending a 'begin download' message to the loader card 52. It then opens a special voice cham1el between the station 18 and the loader card 52 to transmit the binary data from the loader card 52 to the patient station 18.
When the station 18 receives a 'prepare for download' message it sets a timer allowing about 15 seconds 15 for C~ mrlPti~n of the downloading. If the station 18 receives the complete download, it resets the timer, and then perforrns a checksum test on the du.. '~ rd software which it now has sorted in RAM. If the test passes, the station 18 sends back a D-channel 'download succ~P~fi~l response' message to the soRware of the master station 32, and the station 18 switches execution to the soRware in RAM. If the checksum test fails or if the station 18 timed out, it sends back a 'download response' message with an error code and ~ rl ~ y resumes sending 'download request' messages until downloading succeeds.
The B-channel is normally used for audio ~ iull in this system l 0. Audio is converted to digital signals and then 1, ,."~ r " ". l by the "DXP" PBX 65, resulting in a difference between the digital signal tr~m~ittP~
on the B-channel by one station 18 and the digital signal arriving at a ~ station 18. In the downloading process, the B-channel is used to transmit a binary image from the loader card 52 to the station 18 being downloaded 25 to, because data can be l,,~,.,;l~ d much faster over the B-channel than the D-channel. The B-channel can transmit 64000 bits per second, whereas the D-channel can effectively transmit only about 2000 bits per second. However, to use the B-channel to t~ansmit data, no PBX Ulu~e~;llg can be pPrf~)rrnPd on the signal. So when an audio channel is opened between the loader card 52 and the patient station 18 to be downloaded to, the system 10 must essentially tell the "DXP" PBX 65 to pass the digital audio signal through without pluce~sl"g it.
Also, when the station 18 receives the D-channel 'prepare for download' message, it sets itself up to temporarily route the incoming audio bits to a LOADER soRware download routine, instead of to the speaker, which is where audio is normally routed. The protocol used for the t-< of the audio data from the loader card 52 to the patient station 18 is similar in some respects to the tran~mi ~ )n of the data from the master station PC 43 to the loader card 52 over the serial channel. There is a header sent before the rest of the data and the actual binary image software data is transmitted 256 bytes at a time. There the similarity ends. Part of the difference is due to the nature of the l. medium. The serial channel is asyn.,luul.u.l~, meaning that at any given moment, a serial byte may be in the process of being t - ', but for long periods the serial channel may be idle. The audio channel, on the other hand, is syn.,luu -uu~, and is essentially never idle. This results in a higher possibility for error and loss of syncluom~dtion. Therefore, a special preamble is used to help insure that each patient station 18 ~,u~u~;~ the start of the header block, and another preamble is used for each 256 byte data block. Also, each data CA 02263428 1999-02-ll - W O 98108203 PCTrUS97/14733 block has a checksum appended to it, which incorporates the loading address for that block. Finally, if the patient station 18 ~1 1 , -," ~ that the header block or a subsequent data block has errors in it because the block checksum test failed, it sends a "no acknowle&6~ .l" message to the loader card 52, and lhat block is ~ i A block may be retransmitted a maximum of six times before the process fails.
S One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the system to described can be ~ ;l a.lu.lably controlled to add or remove Aririition~ll features to suit the needs of the particular hospital wing in which it is used. For example, there are literally dozens of difl'erent types of calls. Some call types relate to the patient's condition, for example, calls generated from e4~ ,.n..,t monitoring the patient and code blue calls. Other call types relate to the status of erluirmPnt that the patient is using, and those calls may be either Alltrlm ItirAlly or patient ~ C~ 1, for 1() example, status calls relating to the bathroom, shower, patient chair, etc. Further call types relate to an .~.1,,ll.,~t failure or the necd for e~ mAi-~tf~ lrl~; and in addition, the patient may initiate a nurse call. Not only do the call types vary, but there are different groups of persons who should be notified of and respond to the calls, for example, e~illipmpnt m~int~nAnrr personnel, building m~inl~n~nre pcrsonnel, cleaning personnel, registered nurses, social workers, wll~ cy personnel, etc.
Using a data entry program at a master station, groups of persons having a common interest in a particular call are identified and stored in the system with an unique group name. Thereafter, using another data entry program the routing for each call type is entered in the system, that is, for each type of call that may be generated, the groups of persons who are to receive that call are identil'ied and stored. Further, different types of calls will have different mf~hr,rlrir,g,i~ of ~Anrelling the call. For example, a code blue call is a "latched" call and will remain active until it is cancelled by actuating the cancel button 116 (Fig. 7) at the patient station 18 of the patient for whom the call was issued. Other types of latched calls are some types of - - - calls which are ~-to~nAtirAlly cancelled upon the equipment being fixed. Other calls are "unlatched" and are cancelled ~utrlmAtirAIly, for example, a normal patient CALL answered at the master station is cancelled Alltom~irAlly upon the call being answered. Other "nnl~trhl~i" call types are cancelled simply upon the system detecting that the call was received. ln addition, an interface program at the master station is used to identify the cal~;iv~l ~ who are assigned to a particular patient, and those persons are identified with a common "Assigned Staff' group name in the system. Therefore, any call type that is to be directed to the Assigned Staff will ~tomAtirAIly be directed to those persons ~perificAlly assigned to the patient initiating the call.
The above data links in ~ " with the hardware illustrated in Fig. 2 permit personnel with "cordless"
or "wireless" trl~ pl~ . c to move anywhere within the hospital complex and still be in ~ ir~n with the patient. For example, if a nurse or other staff person is at a remote location from the patient but wishes to talk with the patient, the system of Fig. 2 permits that person to execute the call room process illllitrAtr~rl in Fig. 14. The person uses a phone 64 to open a line, that is, obtain a wireless c~ .P~ lir~:: 69 between the phone 64 and the hospital PBX 63, and the PBX 63 provides a dial tone back to the phone 64. The person then enters an access code which causes the PBX 63 to open a selected trunk line on line 62 between the PBX 63 and the "DXP" PBX 65. The system first at 200 detects whether that trunk line has been opened and thereafter, sends a signal across the RS 232 line 57 to the master PC 43 inrlirAtinE that the trunk line has been opened. The master PC, at 202 utilizes a voice card 51 to activate a ~ VIded or synthesized voice along one of the lines 59, 61 back through the "DXP" PBX 65, PBX
63 and to the telephone 64. The voice message generated by the master PC 43 asks for the room number of the patient. The caller then, using the keypad of the telephone 64, enters a desired room number that identifies the CA 02263428 1999-02-ll location of the person being called. Upon entering the room number, it is passed through the PBX 63, 65 through one of the A/D port converters 58, 60 to the voice card 51 in the master PC 4 3 . Upon detecting at 204 that the room number has been entered, the master PC 43 then at 206 provides instructions back across the RS 232 interface 57 which cause the "DXP" PBX 65 to connect a voice c~..,....ll .~ ~.~lon line behveen the open trunk 62 and the patient 5 room 14 (Fig. 2) identified by the entered room number. The voice communicalion is opened between the telephone 64 and the patient location. The patient c~ ec using the speaker l l4 and the micropllone l l 3 Of the patjent station ]8. Therefore, the staff member can converse with the patient or other persons in the room. The rf~ rln occurs without the patient having to have access to or be able to manipulate a telephone. In fact, no action is required by the patient in order for the staff member to establish the voice c-,...,."..,;~ .lion link. At the end of the conversation, the system detects at 208 that the caller has "hung-up", that is, fli cCr)nnPrtP(~ the tclephone 64;
and the master PC 43, then instructs the "DXP" PBX 65 to ~liccnnnpct the voice çrmml~nicAtion link to the patient's room. Preferably, the system includes a timer that Al~tr,mS~tirAllV diCrr~nll~ctc the line or "hangs up" after a predetermined period of time. That ~c~ c the situation where the person initiating the call forgets to ~liccr~nnPrt the line or "hang up" after the conversation A further ~ o~ of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 15, which illustrates how a "nnnl~trhP~" call is initiated from a pabent to the Assigned Staff. With the process of Fig. 15, when the patient pushes the nurse call button, a telephone call is ~llt~ m~tir:llly initiated to the appropriate one of the assigned staff. The system first, at 220, determines whether the patient has actuated the nurse call button 105 (Fig. 6) on the pillow speaker unit 22.
Of course, other call buttons at other locations on the bed would also be recogni7P~ The patient call is linked to the master PC at 222 by moving across lines 68 (Fig. 2) to card cage 54, through "DXP" PBX 65, and across the RS 232 line 56 to the master PC 43, which provides a patient call to the display 34. More than one group personnel can be AccOciAtPfl with any of the call types, and the groups can be prioritized in the system as to the order in which they are to be contacted. The system at 223 selects the highest priority group to be called next, for example, during a first pass, the highest priority group is chosen. The master PC 43 at 224 then selects the person within the group to be called. If the selected group is the Assigned Staff, the master PC 43 goes to the Assigned Staff database to identify and/or select the staff member to be notified of the patient call. Generally, the Assigned Staff group, as well as other groups, will have several persons identified as those who are responsible for rPsrr~nfline to patient calls. Further, a particular group will often be assigned to several patients. Consequently, the group is subject to receiving calls from different patients, and the system must determine how those calls are to be assigned within the group. Several options are available. For example, in the case of Assigned Staff, in some Applir~ti~.~nC, those calls are preferably equally rlictribut l among persons within the group. Therefore, the master PC 43 utilizes a random selection process in selecting pcrsons within the group to whom ~u~,ccsal~ calls will be directed Further, the selection process will not select a person again until all of the persons in the group have been selected once. In other applirAtir,n.c, the staff may be assigned a priority based on the order in which their data is entered into the system. For example, the first person entered is the first person to be called, and the last person entered is the last person to be called. In that situation, the master PC 43 simply directs the call to the next person listed in the group, the group being arranged in the order in which the persomnel data was entered.
At 225, the master PC 43 then rlP1~nninPc whether the selected person has a tPlt~phrlnP, and if so, the master PC 43 at 226 looks up the phone number of that person, and utilizing the RS 232 line 56, the master PC
40 - lly enters an access code for an outgoing trunk line 62 from the "DXP" PBX 65 to the hospital PBX 63.

CA 02263428 l999-02-ll - W O 98/0$203 PCTAUS97/14733 After entering the trunk access code, the master PC then enters the phone number of the seiected staff person. The hospital PBX 63 causes the telephone 64 to ring, and at 230, the systems detects whether the phone is answered.
Preferably, the system will allow a pre~PtP~inP~1 number of rings or a prP-1r~ ..,.". cl period of time before it determines that the phone will not be answered. If the phone is answered, since the patient call is an "unlatched"
call, the call is allt~ m~ticlllly cancelled at 231. 1'hereafter, the master PC 43 at 232 causes a computer generated message to be transferred over one of the lines 59, 61 to the "DXP" PBX 65 across the open trunk line 62 through the hospital PBX 63 and to the phone 64. The voice message identifies the room number from which the patient call has been initiated and the call type, which in this case is a PATENT call.
In addition, the computer generated message can optionally provide other infnnTI:~ti~ with respect to the patient. Preferably, numerous stored recorded messages identifying special characteristics and con~ nc, for example, b]ind, deaf, mute, etc, are available, and selected messages can be assigned to a particular patient. Those messages are played back at this time, to provide the person answering the patient call with important information with respect to the patient's condition and c~ ion.c capabilitics. The above feature is in addition to other notes can be entered into the system at the master station 32 and visually displayed using the display 34 of the master ] 5 station 32.
Further, the computer generated message may provide several options to the staff person receiving the call, ~IPpPn~line on the nature of the call type. For example, with a PATENT call, the computer generated message at 232 will instruct the staff person to press the " l " key to open a voice . ~n link to the patient. If at 234 the master PC 43 detects that a " I " has been entered from the telephone 64, it will at 235 cause the "DXP" PBX 65 to open a voice c~ 'io~ link between the phone 64 and the patient station at the location from which the PATENT call was initiated. Thus, the patient can c~ "-~ P with the staffperson answering the PATENT call by using the speaker 114 and the Illlcl uphGllc 113 on the patient station 18. The master PC 43 at 232 also provides a message that the PATENT call will be placed on a reminder list in response to the staff person pressing the "2 " .
If at 236, the master PC 43 detects that a "2" has been entered, it will at 238 place the PATENT call on a reminder list. Thereafter, after a prellPtPrminP~ period of time, either a number of seconds or minutes, the master PC 43 returns to the step 226 and reenters the access code and phone number of the selected staff person; and the process of steps 226 through 238 is repeated.
Normally, if the master PC receives no response within a prP~lptpnninpd period of time after the voice messages have been played, it d~ t~ that the person being called is not going to respond. The process then at 240 rlPfPm1inPe whether all persons in the selected group have been called. If not, the process returns to step 224, and the next person in the group is selected; and the process iterates through process steps 225-240 as previously described. The system will also check whether all persons have been called if the selected person has no telephone as detected at step 225 or if the telephone is not answered as detected at step 230. After all persons in the group have been called as detected at 240, the process at 242 then ~1~ tl ....;... ~ whether all groups have been called. If not, the process then at 223 selects the next group to be called and the process again iterates through steps 224-242; after all calls have been made the process end. It should be noted that a group, for example, Assigned Staff can be entered a multiple number of times, and therefore, the system will then cycle through the same group. Preferably, a Default group is also assigned that includes a phone number which will always be answered.

~

The number of options provided by voice messages from the master PC 43 to the staff person at step 234 may be more or less, ~ c on the call type being processed. For example, if a CODE BLUE "latched" call is being processed, the option of plaeing the eall on a reminder list is preferably not provided; and therefore, the person called has only the options of opelung d voice comml~nirn~ ir~n to the patient or not rPcrrln~ling Further, in the event S of a CODE BLUE "latched" call, the proeess step at 231 would not be used to cancel the call because a CODEBLUE
c~ll can only be cancelled at the pntient station Therefore, with a CODEBLUE call, the process at 240 retu~ns to step 224 to continue attempts to contaet staff persons until the CODE BLUE call is c;~ncelled at the patient station 18 Other varialions of Fig. l5, dependiD~ on the type of call being initiated from the patient location may be readily " ""1....~ ..tf (i by those who are skilled in the nrt While a preferred 1~ of a patient/nurse cnll system l 0 in dc.o~ e with this invention has been described, it is to be ~ ~ thnt the functional 2nd operntional enpabililies of the system ] O can be varied widely to suit the partieular needs of a hospital in which it is used, or even a faeility other thdn a hospital, wherein similar ;1 ... rn~hiliti~ are desired. For instance, the particular eoding and p"o~ ILi~lg ~f hospital calls may be varied, along with storage and retrieval of the ealls and nurse location and i~ ~Pnti f~r~inn inforrnation Moreover, the 15 manner of inrPt f~rinE with the stored infrlrm~tirln al either the master station 32 or any of the pahent stations 18 may also be modi~ied~ While preferably with respeet to Figs~ 14, 15, cnmm~nir~tion with the patient utilizes the speaker on the patient station, alterrJatively, the speaker on the pillow unit may also be used.

Claims (14)

1 A method of providing voice communications between a staff person and a patient in a hospital comprising the steps of:
actuating a pushbutton (105) to initiate a PATIENT call from the patient; and automatically identifying in response to the PATIENT call, a staff person associated with the patient, characterised by the steps of automatically initiating a telephone call through a master station PBX (65), through a hospital PBX (63) to a telephone (64) associated with the staff person in response to the PATIENT call;
detecting the telephone being answered; and opening a voice communication channel between the telephone (64) of the staff person and a speaker (104, 114) and microphone (113) located near the patient.

2 A method of providing voice communications of Claim 1 further comprising in response to detecting the telephone being answered the steps of:
transmitting a voice message to the telephone (64) identifying the patient to the staff person;
transmitting a reply initiated by the staff person using the telephone; and initiating a subsequent action in response to the reply.

3 A method of providing voice and data communications between a staff person and a patient in a hospital comprising the steps of:
(a) actuating a nontelephonic unit (105) to initiate a call from the patient to a first staff person associated with the patient;
(b) detecting the call with a first microprocessor (20) located with the patient;
(c) passing the call from the first microprocessor (20) to a master station PBX (65);
(d) passing the call from the master station PBX (65) to a second microprocessor (43) at a master station (32) associated with the patient; and (e) identifying a response to the call, a first staff person associated with the patient, characterised by the steps of (f) initiating a telephone call from the second microprocessor (43) at the master station through the master station PBX (65), through a hospital PBX (63) to a telephone (64) associated with the first staff person;
(g) detecting the telephone being answered;
(h) transmitting a message from the second microprocessor (43) at the master station (32), through the master station PBX
(65), through a hospital PBX (63) to the telephone (64), the message identifying the patient and characteristics associated with the call;
(i) transmitting a reply initiated by the first staff person using the telephone (64), through the hospital PBX (63), the master station PBX (65) and back to the second microprocessor (43) at the master station; and (j) initiating a subsequent action by second microprocessor (43) at the master station (32) in response to the reply.

4 A method of providing voice and data communications of Claim 3 wherein the step of initiating a call further comprises changing a binary output by actuating a pushbutton (105).

A method of providing voice and data communications of Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the subsequent action comprises the step of opening a voice communication channel between the telephone (64) of the first staff person and a speaker (104, 114) and microphone (113) located near the patient in response to a first reply from the first staff person.

6 A method of providing voice and data communications of any of Claims 3 to 5 wherein the call is a nonlatching call and after the step of detecting the telephone being answered, the process further comprises the step of cancelling the call.

7 A method of providing voice and data communications of any of Claims 3 to 6 wherein the call is a nonlatching call and the subsequent action comprises the step of automatically, after a period of time, repeating steps (f) through (j) in response to a second reply from the first staff person.

8 A method of providing voice and data communications of any of Claims 3 to 7 wherein the subsequent action comprises the step of identifying a second staff person associated with the patient in response to a third reply from the first staff person and initiating a telephone call from the second microprocessor (43) at the master station (32) through the master station PBX (65) and through a hospital PBX (63) to a telephone (64) associated with the second staff person.

9 A method of providing voice and data communications of Claim 8 further comprising the steps of repeating steps (g) through (j) with respect to the second staff person.

A method of providing voice communications between a staff person a patient in a hospital comprising the steps of:
providing an identification number unique to a patient in response to the staff person using a telephone (64);
automatically transmitting the identification number to a hospital PBX (63);
automatically passing the identification number through the hospital PBX to a master station PBX (65);
automatically passing the identification number from the master station PBX to a master station associated with a location of the patient;
automatically opening a voice communications channel between the staff person and the patient through the telephone (64), the hospital PBX (63), the master station PBX (65) and a speaker and microphone at the patient location without any physical action being required by the patient.

11 A method of providing voice communications of Claim 10 wherein prior to the step of providing an identification number, the method further comprises the step of detecting an opening of a trunk line in response to the staff person using the telephone (64).

12 A method of providing voice communications of Claim 10 or Claim 11 wherein after the step of:
detecting the staff person terminating the call; and closing the voice communication channel in response to the staff person terminating the call.

13 A patient/nurse call system comprising:
a plurality of transmitters (26) adapted-to be carried by hospital personnel, each transmitter periodically transmitting an identification signal unique to that transmitter;
a plurality of patient locations (14a-14c), each of the plurality of patient locations being associated with a patient and including a microprocessor (20a, 20b), a receiver (121a, 121b) for receiving the identification signals from the plurality of transmitters, and a microphone (113) and speaker (104, 114) for audio communications;
a master station (32) location remote from the patient locations, the master station location having a microprocessor (43), and a microphone (177) and speaker (178) for audio communications; and a master station PBX (65) operatively connected between the microprocessor (43) at the master station (32) and each of the microprocessors (20a, 20b) at the plurality of patient locations for providing all data communications between any of the plurality of patient locations and the master station and further providing all audio communications between the plurality of patient locations and the master station, characterised in that the system comprises a wireless telephone (64); and a hospital PBX (63) connected between the wireless telephone and the master station PBX (65) for providing a data and voice communications link between the wireless telephone and the master station and the plurality of patient locations.

14 A patient/nurse call system of Claim 13 wherein the microphone (113) and the speaker (104, 114) at the patient locations (14a-14e) are part of a patient station (18) at each of the plurality of patient locations.

A patient/nurse call system of Claim 13 wherein the speaker (104) at the patient location is located in a pillow unit (22) at each of the plurality of patient locations.