Hospital gets new disinfectant machines

Hot Springs Health (HSH) has two new disinfectant machines called Tru-D. Zack Brink from HSH's housekeeping department, Bridget Truempler, the director of nursing and Trina Slover, the director of surgical services presented Tru-D in a demonstration.

Brink will clean a patient's room upon their exit where they remove the trash liners and linen because Tru-D only works on hard surfaces. Once the room is done being pre-cleaned and dried, Brink starts the machine up in the middle of the room. Its multiple high-powered UV ray lights shine all over the room and it cleans any bacteria, viruses or other organisms in the air or surfaces, hence sterilizing the room. 

Truempler also explained that the light is so bright it bounces off of hard surfaces and will be effective even underneath harder to reach places, such as under the beds or cabinets. 

Slover added "this is just another step to help prevent getting any infections post-op or during surgeries." Tru-D is also used in the surgery rooms and elsewhere. HSH has two Tru-D, one for the OR and the second for other rooms. 

One Tru-D machine costs approximately $80,000 to $90,000 because of its high technology. The device is controlled with an iPad tablet and wireless communications. It also has added safety measures because the UV light is so strong or powerful that it can burn or damage skin or eyes. The machine can run for its light cycle and when it's done, it texts Brink or another operator to notify them. There are multiple UV lamps to enable the sterilization to be done quicker. Tru-D measures the room and determines how long it takes to perform. A small room takes about 20 minutes, main patient rooms need 30 minutes and the operating room needs 45 minutes. Tru-D also connects to a cloud server and will give reports or notifications in case there is a malfunction or other need for service.

Tru-D is especially used for disinfecting the emergency room or other patient rooms who had patients with infectious diseases such as Covid, MRSA, or C-Diff.