Handheld clinical terminal

A portable device for monitoring a physiological condition of a patient, comprising:

• a receiver adapted to receive a signal, which represents the physiological condition of the patient, via a wireless communication link;
• a display configured to display, based upon the signal, a representation of the physiological condition to a user;
• an alarm exhibitor configured to provide an alarm indication to the user in response to an identified anomaly in the physiological condition of the patient;
• at least first and second buttons, the at least first and second buttons having identification information associated therewith indicating that activation of the at least first and second buttons will cause respective at least first and second predefined responses to the alarm condition to be transmitted;
• and
• a transmitter adapted to communicate, via the wireless communication link, with a primary station to permit the user to communicate one of the at least first and second predefined responses to the alarm indication to the primary station by activating a corresponding one of the at least first and second buttons.

A method for monitoring a patient, comprising the steps of:

• using a handheld portable station to receive dynamic patient data, which represents a dynamically-changing physiological condition of the patient, via a wireless communication link;
• using the portable station to display, based upon the dynamic patient data, a dynamically-changing representation of the physiological condition to a user;
• using a device other than the portable station to identify an anomaly in the physiological condition of the patient;
• and
• using the portable station to exhibit an alarm indication, separate from the dynamically-changing representation of the physiological condition, to the user in response to the device other than the portable station identifying the anomaly in the physiological condition of the patient.

A method for monitoring a patient, comprising the steps of:

• using a portable station to receive a signal, which represents a physiological condition of the patient, via a wireless communication link;
• using the portable station to display, based upon the signal, a representation of the physiological condition to a user;
• using the portable station to exhibit an alarm indication to the user in response to an identified anomaly in the physiological condition of the patient;
• after the portable station exhibits the alarm indication, activating one of at least two buttons on the portable station;
• in response to a first one of the at least two buttons being activated, using the portable station to transmit a first predefined response to the alarm indication, via the wireless communication link, to a primary station;
• and
• in response to a second one of the at least two buttons being activated, using the portable station to transmit a second predefined response to the alarm indication, via the wireless communication link, to the primary station.