Peripheral alarm device for a patient monitoring system. In an embodiment, the peripheral alarm device includes an audio speaker and an audio detector. The peripheral alarm device also includes a control system that includes circuitry configured to communicate with the audio detector and a medical software program executed by a host computing system. The audio speaker is configured to generate an audible alarm in response to alarm instructions from the host computing system. The audio detector is configured to communicate a detection signal to the control system. The control system is configured to analyze the detection signal to verify whether the audible alarm was properly generated and communicate a control signal to the host computing system. The peripheral alarm device may include a light indicator and a light detector instead of the audio speaker and the audio detector or in addition to the audio speaker and the audio detector.
