UV light disinfection is now available in the hospital. As a new project, the hospital has 4 new units that are installed; we have 2. There is one in the outpatient area and one in the inpatient area of the Leukemia/BMT program. These devices will rapidly disinfect staff personal items such as cell phones, ID badges, lanyards and keys. This is new technology that uses UV-C light to rapidly disinfect these items.
These small medical grade units are installed in the conference room and nursing station for easy access.
We are good at washing our hands, wearing PPE but what about the other things we touch all day? Cell phones, keys, ID badges etc…How dirty are they? Now we have an easy way to clean and disinfect small handheld items.
Ultraviolet-C is a short wave length that will kill or inactivate microorganisms; it is a germicide – it can kill up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. These light waves do not pass through objects, the UV-C light will stop when it reaches and object though. This is why small items are better as the light can reach all sides.
UV – A and B do not have effect of bacteria and viruses. UV-B causes the sunburn we get in the summer without sunscreen and UV-A causes skin aging and damage.
These UV-C disinfection units should not be used to clean hands or skin. They are enclosed units to prevent this from happening; filtered glass protects your eyes if you look at. The door must be closed in order for the unit to work.
At this point in time, home models of UV-C light disinfection are not recommended. Their efficacy is not proven and there are risks of skin or eye damage.
UV-C machines will effectively disinfect in a matter of seconds. Could UV-A and UV-B light disinfect –no; and even if they could effectively disinfect – it would take a very long time. There are too many variables with UV-A and UV-B.
Please know we care about your health and safety and this is one more way we do that.