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Camden Clark Medical Center gets second robot to tackle germs

PARKERSBURG -Camden Clark Medical Center has purchased a second high-technological robot to battle bacteria and eliminate multi-drug resistant organisms that can cause Hospital Acquired Infections, the Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot.

The first robot was purchased in February 2015 and the newest machine was made possible because of fundraising efforts by the hospital’s auxiliary committee.

The two robots, named Rosie and Robbie, are part of Camden Clark’s Environmental Services Team and are designed to enhance the facility’s processes for cleaning rooms and killing germs that cause infections. The portable Xenex system can disinfect a typical patient or procedure room in five minute cycles without warm-up or cool-down times and is effective against even the most dangerous pathogens, including Clostridium difficile (C. diff), norovirus, influenza, Ebola and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA.

The Xenex system uses intense UV light to disinfect rooms, resulting in greater efficiency and no chemical residue or toxic fumes.

UV light has been used for disinfection for decades, but the difference here is the machines use a UV system that uses pulsed xenon and not mercury bulbs (mercury is toxic) to create UV light.

The germicidal UV light is 500-2,000 times more intense than sunlight and destroys microorganisms on surfaces. It is so intense that it even works in shadowed areas.

It can be used in any department and in any unit within the hospital, including isolation rooms, operating rooms, general patient care rooms, contact precaution areas, emergency rooms, bathrooms and public spaces.

The process is quick and easy. The room first has to be cleaned and all visible dirt and fluids removed, trash emptied, linens removed, a normal cleaning.

After the room is visually clean, the robot comes in and destroys anything left behind. It eliminates deadly bacteria the naked eye can’t see.

“Hundreds of people enter this hospital every day patients, visitors, doctors, employees and vendors – bringing a variety of contaminants and germs with them. We want to do everything within our means to provide a clean environment to reduce the risk of hospital acquired infections,” said Phil O’Bryon, director of Nutrition & Environmental Services at Camden Clark. “Using the two Xenex germ zapping robots enables us to get rid of those pathogens before they can endanger our patients and staff. We are focused on and committed to patient care and safety, which is why we are proud to be the leaders in implementing this innovative technology.”

Since its commercial launch in June 2010, Xenex robots are included in the infection control process at more than 300 hospitals, Veterans Affairs facilities, long-term acute care facilities, Skilled Nursing Facilities and Ambulatory Surgery Centers in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Africa.

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