Violet: A Key Member of our Germ-Fighting Team

When we explain the role Violet plays on South Shore Hospital's environmental services team, those who haven't seen her in action envision her in many different ways.

Some see the infamous Dalek from Dr. Who. Others see Star Wars' squat R2-D2. Many see Rosie, the robot maid from The Jetsons.

Unlike Rosie, Violet doesn't clean our patient rooms. Violet disinfects them.

Violet is the name South Shore Health colleagues gave our Xenex LightStrike® Germ-Zapping Robot®.

This technology, which is not usually seen in hospitals outside of downtown Boston, is proven to significantly reduce the amount of bacteria in rooms around the hospital.

Violet's ultraviolet light energy passes through the cell walls of bacteria, viruses and bacterial spores, damaging their DNA and preventing them from making patients and colleagues sick.

From operating rooms to our maternity floor, Violet gets to work after our environmental services colleagues clean a room. The ultraviolet light eminates from Violet for about 15 minutes, disinfecting within a six foot radius of the machine. Violet typically runs through three cycles in each room to fully disinfect the area.

In December, Violet worked for more than 65 hours, delivering more than 345,000 pulses of ultraviolet light in 148 hospital rooms. And she's still going strong during cold and flu season.

Thank you, Violet, for helping to improve patient safety.

See Violet in action!