Robots cleaning schools...Hospitals
Norman Regional lends out cleaning robot to schools
By Meg Wingerter by Meg Wingerter Published: February 27, 2018 5:00 AM CDT
Updated: February 27, 2018 5:00 AM CDT
A robot lent by Norman Regional Health System disinfects
a classroom at Roosevelt Elementary School in Norman with ultraviolet light on
Tuesday. [Photo provided by Norman Regional]
Oklahoma City — Moore Public Schools got a temporary
addition to their cleaning staff last week when Norman Regional Health System
lent out a robot to “zap” germs.
The schools already have a robust cleaning system, with a
well-trained custodial staff and their own robots that spray a chlorine mist,
Superintendent Robert Romines said. But an extra layer of protection was
worthwhile in buildings that have had high absence rates due to illness.
“Anything that it can contribute to killing germs at the
sites we're using it is beneficial,” he said.
The hospital is lending the robots as part of an outreach
program, said Clyde Brawner, director of environmental services at Norman
Regional. They also lent the robots to schools in the Norman and Noble
districts.
The hospital decided to add the robots in 2016 at the
campuses on Porter Avenue and Tecumseh Road as part of an overall plan to
reduce infections. The robots are used for patient rooms where the risk of
spreading infections is higher, and for high-traffic areas such as public
restrooms, Brawner said.
The robot creates a 14-foot-wide “bubble” of ultraviolet
C light that kills germs on any exposed surface. Staff follow standard cleaning
procedures using detergent, clear out any clutter and turn the robot on, while
they clean other areas, Brawner said. The robot can't move on its own, so staff
reposition it to get all areas of larger rooms, he said.
The sun produces ultraviolet C light, but the Earth's
atmosphere prevents it from reaching the surface, meaning bacteria and viruses
haven't developed defenses against it, said Melinda Hart, spokeswoman for Xenex
Disinfection Services, which makes the robots Norman Regional uses.
“The germs and microorganisms have no resistance because
they've never seen anything like it,” Hart said.
The ultraviolet light damages the DNA of bacteria and
viruses, preventing them from reproducing and making people sick. It also can
kill some cells outright.
Human cells also aren't resistant, so people who work
with the robots go into a different room while disinfection is in process, Hart
said. The light wouldn't cause severe damage to a person from a single
exposure, but it could cause eye irritation if a person looked directly at it,
she said.
Norman Regional got its initial group of robots under an
arrangement where it would pay only if it saved money from reduced infections.
The hospital estimated it saved about $250,000 in the first year of using the
robots.
Some facilities have reported reductions in patient
infections after using the robots. According to a paper in the American Journal
of Infection Control, a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, eliminated surgical
infections in its orthopedic unit, saving more than $290,000. A long-term acute
care facility, also in the Southeast, saved about $300,000 by halving its rate
of infections with Clostridium difficile, a hardy bacterium that causes severe
diarrhea.
It's worth noting, however, that both facilities used the
robot as part of a broader push to reduce infections, which included new
protocols for cleaning staff.
The robots cost $125,000, and most hospitals get about
three years of service out of them, Hart said. Bulb replacements are included
in the purchase price, to encourage hospitals to use it extensively, she said.
Staff were skeptical at first, but embraced the robots
when they saw patients benefited, Brawner said.
“We have seen the difference that they have made,” he
said. “It's a program that, if you implemented it correctly, you can see
results in days.”
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