BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — We touch our cell phones,on average, more than 2,500 times a day. That’s according to a study by research firm Dscout.
“Devices like mobile phones can have a lot of bacteria on them because we handle them everyday we’re not always washing our hands regularly and not to mention we place them in really warm environments,” said Scott Mason, CleanSlate UV Co-Founder.
A new device called CleanSlate UV uses ultra violet light to kill germs on smartphones and medical instruments in just 30 seconds. All you have to do is place your phone on the tray, and close the lid.
“On the inside that tray moves into a disinfection chamber where there’s 3 germicidal lamps on the top, three on the bottom. It’s a reflective chamber you get 360 degrees of coverage,” said Mason.
Kenmore Mercy Hospital is one of just 4 hospitals in the country that’s using the CleanSlate UV device in a trial run. The creators of the CleanSlate UV were winners of last year’s 43 North competition.
“We have a lot of policies and procedures to clean medical equipment, to clean the rooms, to clean the hospital here but the phones we don’t really have a procedure to do that,” said James Millard, Kenmore Mercy Hospital CEO.
“Our phones have definitely become a normal part of our everyday practice we use them to contact physicians, we use them to look up medications,” said Burgundy Mullen, Kenmore Mercy Hospital Clinical Educator.
The CleanSlate UV unit sits at or near nursing stations and allows staff and visitors to clean their mobile devices in between visits with patients.
“It’s also a nice relief to know that we can pop our phone into the device and then go home with a clean phone, we’re not bringing the germs home back to our families,” said Mullen.
The CleanSlate is being used at 7 facilities in Ontario, Canada, 2 in Western New York, 2 in New York City, and a food processing facility in New Zealand.
It can also be purchased online, go to: http://www.cleanslateuv.com/
Top News