A relational pulse oximetry alarm system and method is presented for earlier identification of the occurrence of an adverse clinical event. The system includes a pulse oximeter based microprocessor alarm system which provides an alarm based on a relational conformation of a plurality of time series and further based on the recognition of specific dynamic patterns of interaction between a plurality of corresponding and related time series including the occurrence of pathophysiologic divergence of two or more time series outputs. The processor is programmed to compare a first time series to a second time series to produce a comparison result, to identify a relationship between the first time series and the second time series, to identify a relational threshold breach, and to output an alarm based on the relational threshold breach. The system can include an oximeter testing system for predicting the timeliness of the response of the alarm of a pulse oximeter to the occurrence of an adverse clinical event.