Turning Down the Noise: CalmWave and Catalyst by Wellstar Aim to Cure ICU Alarm Fatigue
Imagine you’re recovering in a hospital ICU, only to be jarred awake every other minute by sudden, constant alarms. Monitors for heart rate, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and more all clamor for attention. Most of these alarms aren’t urgent: studies show that an ICU patient can trigger 150 to 400 alerts daily, the vast majority of which require no clinical intervention.
This constant noise isn’t just an annoyance. It’s a phenomenon called alarm fatigue, when clinicians become desensitized to alarms due to sheer overload, potentially missing the rare critical alert amid hundreds of false ones.
“Between 80% and 99% of beeps and machine sounds in ICUs have no action or real meaning to them,” says Ophir Ronen, CEO of health tech company CalmWave. “You as a patient can’t rest in the ICU because of this. That’s the problem we’re solving”.
Alarm fatigue has emerged recently as a top patient safety hazard in modern hospitals. A 2023 National Institutes of Health study linked high alarm burden with lower patient safety and staff well-being. Nurses risk cognitive overload and burnout while patients endure stress and disturbed sleep while bombarded with noise that is often ignored. In some tragic cases, nurses and clinicians miss critical alarms, drowned out by noise.
Plumbers for Hospital Data
CalmWave, a Seattle-based startup spun out of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) incubator in 2022, wants to build what it calls a “Quiet ICU.” The company addresses alarm fatigue by generating safe recommendations that clinicians use to eliminate non-actionable alerts and by ensuring that those that remain are clinically meaningful.
“Alarm tones from bedside vital sign monitors were designed to alert clinicians to perceived physiological or technical problems,” Ronen says. “Every year, new devices and monitors are introduced — this means more beeps, more sounds.”
“Alarm fatigue in ICUs is an unacceptable status quo,” Ronen adds. "By empowering clinicians to quiet the cacophony, finally, CalmWave is solving a critical healthcare challenge and paving the way for hospitals nationwide to deliver more humane, attentive care.”
CalmWave’s hospital operations platform unifies these data streams, allowing hospitals to see the bigger picture. Using Transparent AI, the system analyzes both real-time and historical data—vital signs, medication timing, prior alarms—to recommend smarter, patient-specific alarm thresholds. For example, a patient with chronically low oxygen saturation might not need an alert every time it dips. CalmWave tunes thresholds to filter out false alarms while ensuring real dangers are flagged.
Early results are promising. A case study from a proof-of-concept in one ICU showed that CalmWave’s recommendations cut non-actionable alarms by 58%.
The platform also offers a central dashboard where staff can visualize all monitors in one place, breaking traditional data silos. “Previously, it was just reactive, but now with the data, CalmWave helps hospitals be more proactive,” Ronen says. The goal is an ICU where alarms only sound when necessary, creating calm for caregivers and patients.
A Catalyst in Atlanta’s Tech Square
To turn this vision into reality inside hospitals, CalmWave found an ally 2,600 miles from Seattle: Catalyst by Wellstar, an innovation center and venture fund based in Atlanta. Housed in the Centergy building in Tech Square and backed by Georgia’s Wellstar Health System, Catalyst by Wellstar was established in 2023 as a first-of-its-kind digital health incubator and venture fund focused on tackling healthcare challenges. CalmWave caught Catalyst’s attention with its Quiet ICU concept. In 2024, Catalyst selected CalmWave for its portfolio, providing funding and mentorship, and facilitated a pilot in a Wellstar hospital to prove the technology in a real clinical environment.
That hospital was Wellstar Kennestone, a 633-bed regional medical center in Metro Atlanta. The CalmWave team began with a retrospective data analysis—months of ICU logs and trends—before generating customized alarm recommendations. “Through our successful pilot program, we demonstrated that CalmWave has the potential to be the first effective alarm fatigue solution,” Ronen said.
Encouraged by the data, Wellstar greenlit a live bedside pilot in its critical care unit, deploying CalmWave to guide real-time alarm settings. The goal was to replicate that 50–58% reduction. If successful, it meant quieter rooms, more rest for patients, and fewer missed alerts. “Wellstar’s forward-thinking approach makes it the perfect partner,” Ronen added.
From Kennestone to Nationwide
Following its success at Kennestone, CalmWave is now preparing for a national rollout. The company recently raised $5.2 million in funding, with Catalyst by Wellstar among the investors. “We have strong momentum,” Ronen said. The plan is to expand CalmWave into hospital systems across the U.S., from regional centers to major academic institutions.
At just three years old, CalmWave is moving quickly. Its partnership with Catalyst not only delivered capital but also critical real-world validation. Now, as the company rolls out its “Quiet ICU” solution across the country, its mission remains clear.
“Alarm fatigue in ICUs is an unacceptable status quo,” Ronen insists. With stronger data, more intelligent alerts, and growing partnerships, CalmWave is out to change that.