Pratt Regional Medical Center has taken a leap into the future with a LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robot that destroys hard-to-kill viruses and bacteria in hard-to-clean places. PRMC is one of only 8 hospitals in Kansas to deploy LightStrike Robots from Xenex, a world leader in infection prevention programs and room disinfection technology. The LightStrike Robot is proven to deactivate Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, on surfaces in two minutes. LightStrike is the only UV room disinfection technology proven to deactivate SARS-CoV-2.
“Our goal is to provide the safest possible healing environment for our patients. Pratt Regional Medical Center already has a comprehensive infection prevention program in place, and we are very excited about adding these robots to our infection prevention bundle, which also includes hand hygiene, antibiotic stewardship and education. LightStrike room disinfection is an additional step we are taking to enhance the safety of our patients, which is our focus and priority,” said Paul Carrington, RN Director of Quality/Infection Control.
Pratt Regional Medical Center utilized SPARK funds to purchase the new technology. PRMC has named their robot “Thor”, to honor the superheroes of the Environmental Services team. The robot is part of the EVS team and does not replace any employees. First the room must be cleaned, and all visible dirt/fluids removed, trash emptied, linens removed – a normal cleaning. Then once the room is visually clean, the robot is brought in by the EVS team member and destroys microorganisms that may have been missed during the manual cleaning process - it destroys the deadly pathogens the naked eye can’t see.
LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots use pulsed xenon, an environmentally-friendly inert gas, to create intense bursts of broad spectrum ultraviolet (UV) light that quickly destroys bacteria and viruses on hospital surfaces. The robot works quickly, so staff are able to disinfect dozens of rooms per day. More than 40 peer-reviewed studies have been published by healthcare facilities validating the efficacy of the LightStrike Robot technology.
The portable LightStrike Robot can disinfect a typical patient or procedure room in 10-15 minutes without warm-up or cool-down times. Operated by the hospital cleaning staff, it can be used in any department and in any unit within PRMC, including isolation rooms, operating rooms, general patient care rooms, contact precaution areas, emergency rooms, restrooms and public spaces.