text: disclosed are a system and method that permit a caregiver , such as a nurse , to reset a patient monitoring device at a monitored point , such as bed or wheelchair pad , without having to directly access a central unit at a monitoring station . in an embodiment , the caregiver resets the device , such as the pad , by pressing and releasing the device once , or several times , quickly . advantageously , no additional equipment is required to reset the patient monitoring device and the caregiver does not have to search for an obscured , or difficult to reach , button or switch to achieve reset . the disclosed system and method provide a simple way to reset a weight - change - triggered patient monitoring device , such as a bed pad . fig1 shows a patient monitoring device 100 that wirelessly communicates with a monitoring unit 120 that is at a monitored point . in this case , that patient monitoring device 100 is a bed pad , the monitored point is the patient &# 39 ; s bed , and the monitoring unit 120 can be located at the head or side of the bed , near the nurse call button . such a system , with the monitoring device 100 communicating locally to a monitoring unit 120 that can in turn communicate with a centralized monitoring unit ( e . g ., a nurse call system ), can be cumbersome because of signal passing and connections which need to be made and maintained . these systems can create noisy areas when several patient beds or other monitored points are in a single room and an alarm state is entered by one of the monitoring units at the monitored points . however , the presence of the monitoring unit 120 at the monitored points allows a caregiver , such as a nurse , the ability to quickly discern whether an alarm situation exists while terminating the alarm , if appropriate . fig2 shows several patient monitoring devices 110 a , 110 b , 210 linked directly to a central unit 260 . in this figure , the patient monitoring devices are patient monitoring bed 110 a , 110 b and chair pads 210 . in such systems , the central unit 260 can be located near one or more caregivers , such as at a nurses &# 39 ; station . the central unit 260 can be integrated into existing nurse call systems . in the figure , one of the patient monitoring bed pads 110 c communicates with the central unit 260 through a wireless nurse call system 220 . when the patient monitoring devices 110 a , 110 b , 210 communicate directly with the central unit 260 , as in fig2 , monitoring units at the monitored points can be eliminated . this means that monitoring units at each bed or chair are not necessary . the elimination of monitoring units at each bed or chair can provide a quieter environment in configurations with multiple patients in one room , as well as reducing costs . however , there can be the aforementioned difficulty in resetting a patient monitoring device after it has entered an alarm situation , or state , when the monitoring unit at each monitored point has been eliminated . in such situations , the reset button or switch that will terminate an alarm situation , or state , can be difficult to access on the patient monitoring device . this difficult access is intentional , so that the alarm situation or state cannot be inadvertently terminated prematurely . it is possible to terminate the alarm situation or state from the central unit , but a caregiver would verify the situation at the monitored point first , before resetting the alarm , and so either much travel between the central unit and the monitored point is needed to reset the alarm , or a knowledge of , or search for , the location of the reset button or switch on the patient monitoring device is needed . an alternate system and method for resetting a patient monitoring device is shown in fig3 . fig3 shows a caregiver 315 resetting a weight - change - triggered patient monitoring device 110 at a monitored point 305 . in the figure , the monitored point 305 is a patient bed and the patient monitoring device 110 is a bed pad . such a bed pad can operate by detecting the electrical state of circuits within the pad , such as whether each circuit is open or closed , as well as ( or alternatively ) the resistance in each circuit . the electrical state of the circuits in the bed pad can change with the application or removal of pressure on the bed pad . such bed pads and their operation are described in greater detail elsewhere , such as in u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 606 , 043 , published as u . s . 2010 - 0163315 , and u . s . patent application ser . no . 14 / 075 , 133 , published as u . s . 2014 - 0125486 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference , each in their entirety . when the caregiver 315 in fig3 attends to an alarm situation , such as when the patient monitoring pad 110 has emitted an alarm , the caregiver 315 resets the patient monitoring device by directly accessing the patient monitoring pad . for example , the caregiver simply presses and releases 325 the pad 110 with a short press once , twice or more times . this feature is especially useful in the case of monitored points that are not stationary , such as wheelchairs . the alarms that may be controlled by resetting the patient monitoring pad by pressing and depressing may also include a wireless signal is sent directly to pager carried by the care giver . the transmitter may continually send a repeat signal to the care giver &# 39 ; s pager at preset intervals , such as every 20 seconds . as a feedback to the caregiver 315 that the reset is successful , the local receiver , or zone protector , can emit a short feedback sound , for example two beeps , or send a message sent to the caregiver &# 39 ; s mobile device ( e . g . pager or phone ) that the unit has been reset . feedback to the caregiver 315 can also include visual feedback , haptic feedback , or a combination of any of visual , audio , and haptic feedback . visual feedback can include blinking or flashing lights , including small light bulbs or light emitting diodes ( leds ), messages on devices , screens , or liquid crystal displays ( lcds ), or the like . haptic feedback can include vibrations , such as a series of short vibratory bursts . in the case of bed and chair pads , which are triggered initially by changes in pressure or weight on the pad , pressing and releasing the pad in a time - constrained or recognized pattern ( e . g . rhythmically within a predetermined time ) utilizes the existing signal generating mechanism in the patient monitoring device and the determination that the alarm state should be reset , or canceled , can be made either on the patient monitoring device itself or at the central unit that receives the signals . it should be appreciated that the press and release action is simply an example and that other actions may be used to reset the alarm . other actions that may be used include those that utilize the existing signaling or status monitoring mechanisms of a patient monitoring device . the time constraints on the actions that may be used to reset the alarm can be indicative of purposeful action that is distinct from a patient vacating a monitored point , such a short time period between successive actions or a short duration ( e . g . 2 - 5 seconds ) of a state which a patient is normally in for longer periods of time ( e . g . 30 seconds to many tens of minutes ). in a non - limiting example , a wheelchair has emitted an alarm . the caregiver attends to the alarm by going to the wheelchair location . the caregiver can reset the alarm by pressing and releasing the pad twice quickly ( such as within 2 - 3 seconds ). as mentioned , other actions for resetting the alarm can be used . the transmitter on the wheelchair then sends a reset signal to cancel the alarm on the system . in order to make sure a real alarm is not accidentally reset when a person leaves a bed pad ( or other monitor ) and presses and releases the pad accidentally there is a sequence of operation that prevents such an inadvertent alarm or an unintentional cancellation of an alarm . this is shown in the flow diagram of fig4 a - 4d . fig4 a shows a method in which a patient temporarily removes him - or herself from a patient monitoring pad . initially , the patient sits or lays on the patient monitoring pad , as in 402 . if the pad is a bed pad , the patient may be laying down or sitting up in bed . should the pad be a chair pad , the patient may be sitting in a wheelchair . at some point , the patient moves him - or herself off of the monitoring pad , as in 404 , and an alarm code immediately activates . a delay timer starts counting down once the patient moves off the pad . this delay timer counts down a predetermined amount of time during which a reset at the monitoring pad is not allowed . for example , when a patient gets off the pad , and then perhaps quickly sits down on the pad before sliding off the pad once more , such as falling to the floor . in this case , the alarm would continue , and the motion of the patient will not unintentionally turn off the alarm . when the patient sits or lays on the pad once more before the timer countdown completes , as in 406 , the circuitry in the pad detects the presence of the patient . the persistent presence of the patient on the monitoring pad stops the alarm . the pad then continues to monitor the patient &# 39 ; s presence on the pad , as in 408 . fig4 b shows another method in which a patient temporarily removes him - or herself from a patient monitoring pad . as in fig4 a , initially , the patient sits or lays on the patient monitoring pad , as in 402 . if the pad is a bed pad , the patient may be laying down or sitting up in bed . should the pad be a chair pad , the patient may be sitting in a wheelchair . at some point , the patient moves him - or herself off of the monitoring pad , as in 404 , and an alarm code immediately activates . a delay timer starts counting down once the patient moves off the pad . the delay timer continues to count down until a persistent presence of the patient is detected , as in 410 . when the patient sits or lays on the pad once more before the timer countdown completes , as in 412 , the circuitry in the pad sends an alarm stopping signal to the central monitoring system . the pad then continues to monitor the patient &# 39 ; s presence on the pad , as in 414 . this method is a variation from the method show in fig4 a , in that the patient may not immediately situate him - or herself back on the monitoring pad . when a user tries to stop the alarm by resetting at the patient monitoring pad before the countdown timer finishes , the reset will not be effective . however , in all cases , once the patient monitoring pad detects a persistent presence of the patient , the alarm stops . fig4 c shows a method in which a patient removes him - or herself from a patient monitoring pad and the system enters an alarm state . initially , the patient sits or lays on the patient monitoring pad , as in 402 . at some point , the patient moves him - or herself off of the monitoring pad , as in 404 , and an alarm begins . a delay timer starts counting down once the patient moves off the pad , and the timer continues counting down until time runs out , as in 416 . within the time of the countdown , the patient has not returned to the pad , and the alarm continues until reset , as in 418 . a user , such as a caregiver , investigates the patient &# 39 ; s situation in response to the alarm . once the caregiver addresses patient &# 39 ; s situation , and the patient is no longer in danger of increasing harm by being ignored , the user ( e . g ., caregiver ) resets the monitoring pad using a series of presses and releases on the pad , perhaps in short succession or within a certain time period , as in 420 . the system then cancels the alarm , as in 422 , and the system goes back to monitoring the patient . fig4 d shows another method in which a patient removes him - or herself from a patient monitoring pad and the system enters an alarm state . initially , the patient sits or lays on the patient monitoring pad , as in 402 . at some point , the patient moves him - or herself off of the monitoring pad , as in 404 , and an alarm state begins . a delay timer starts counting down once the patient moves off the pad , and the timer continues counting down until time runs out , as in 416 . within the time of the countdown , the patient has not returned to the pad , and the alarm continues until reset , as in 418 . as in fig4 c , the caregiver investigates the patient &# 39 ; s situation in response to the alarm . this may include helping the patient back to bed or the wheelchair , as in 424 . the pad detects the patient has returned in 424 , and in 426 , the system resets the alarm and resumes monitoring the patient &# 39 ; s movements . in the method of fig4 d , the user does not need to press on or otherwise initiate a reset at the monitoring pad , as the persistent presence of the patient on the pad ends the alarm and resumes patient monitoring . while this specification contains many specifics , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of an invention that is claimed or of what may be claimed , but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments . certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment . conversely , various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub - combination . moreover , although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such , one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination , and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub - combination or a variation of a sub - combination . similarly , while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order , this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order , or that all illustrated operations be performed , to achieve desirable results . although embodiments of various methods and devices are described herein in detail with reference to certain versions , it should be appreciated that other versions , methods of use , embodiments , and combinations thereof are also possible . therefore the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein .