INFECTION PREVENTION
Reducing Airborne Transmission Why UV air filtration units are critical to patient – and caregiver – safety, and how to broach the topic with customers Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, conversations on how to reduce airborne transmission of pathogen have come
front and center. UV air filtration units are one solution distributor reps can discuss with their customers. In the following Q&A, Alan Kivia, president of Medical Illumination, and Rob Saron, senior vice president, global distribution, Symmetry Surgical, provide insights on the benefits of the technology, its proper uses in different care settings, and how distributor reps can approach accounts about the topic.
Repertoire: How old are UV air filtration units? That is to say, how long have they been around? The first commercial grade UV-C lamps were developed in the 1930s and were used primarily in hospitals to neutralize viruses, bacteria, and molds. Due to the harmful effects UV-C can have on the skin, they are used only in unoccupied spaces. UV24 was introduced as VidaShield in April 2016. The product line was acquired by Medical Illumination in 36
June 2020
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April 2019 and was introduced into the distribution market in late 2019. Repertoire: What improvements have been made to the technology in the ensuing years? Being able to use UV-C to deactivate airborne pathogens in occupied spaces was made possible by shielding the UV-C in an enclosed irradiation chamber. In such devices, air is brought into the irradiation chamber
