Monitoring method for diagnostic and therapeutic devices with acoustic alarm transmitters which are assigned to at least two bed places in a patient room of a medical intensive care unit, for actuating a monitoring system which comprises the following components: - a sound sensor (5, 6, 7) assigned to each bed place for picking up alarm sounds emitted by the acoustic alarm transmitters, - at least one reference sound sensor for picking up a reference room sound within the patient room, - for each bed place, at least one associated output unit (13, 14, 16, 18) which identifies the bed place in the event of an alarm being sounded there, - a control unit for processing alarm sounds which have been picked up and the reference room sound and for actuating the output units (13, 14, 16, 18), characterized in that the method comprises at least the following method steps: - detecting and evaluating the alarm sounds and the reference room sound by way of the control unit; - creating reference sound sequences with alarm-transmitting sound sequences for each individual acoustic alarm transmitter and storing the reference sound sequences in the control unit; - comparing the respective levels of identical sound sequences which are picked up by the sound sensors with the level of the reference room sound; - determining the sound sensor which has picked up the sound sequence having the highest level; - comparing the sound sequence having the highest level with the reference sound sequences of the individual acoustic alarm transmitters; - generating a numerical value as an indication of the degree of matching between (a) the sound sequence having the highest level and (b) the reference sound sequence which best matches the sound sequence having the highest level, - comparing the generated numerical value Z with previously defined alarm range limits A, B, within which the alarm is transmitted; - actuating the output unit associated with the bed place whose sound sensor (5, 6, 7) has picked up the sound sequence having the highest level. - a sound sensor (5, 6, 7) assigned to each bed place for picking up alarm sounds emitted by the acoustic alarm transmitters, - at least one reference sound sensor for picking up a reference room sound within the patient room, - for each bed place, at least one associated output unit (13, 14, 16, 18) which identifies the bed place in the event of an alarm being sounded there, - a control unit for processing alarm sounds which have been picked up and the reference room sound and for actuating the output units (13, 14, 16, 18), - detecting and evaluating the alarm sounds and the reference room sound by way of the control unit; - creating reference sound sequences with alarm-transmitting sound sequences for each individual acoustic alarm transmitter and storing the reference sound sequences in the control unit; - comparing the respective levels of identical sound sequences which are picked up by the sound sensors with the level of the reference room sound; - determining the sound sensor which has picked up the sound sequence having the highest level; - comparing the sound sequence having the highest level with the reference sound sequences of the individual acoustic alarm transmitters; - generating a numerical value as an indication of the degree of matching between (a) the sound sequence having the highest level and (b) the reference sound sequence which best matches the sound sequence having the highest level, (a) the sound sequence having the highest level and (b) the reference sound sequence which best matches the sound sequence having the highest level, - comparing the generated numerical value Z with previously defined alarm range limits A, B, within which the alarm is transmitted; - actuating the output unit associated with the bed place whose sound sensor (5, 6, 7) has picked up the sound sequence having the highest level.