On surgical floors Operating Rooms(ORs) have positive pressure checks daily to ensure air handlers are working effectively. Why is positive pressure more desirable for surgery vs. negative pressure? Can either be compared to the exhaust fan in my bathroom on a smaller scale? Thanks!
In: Engineering
I’m an architectural designer who designs hospitals.
ICUs will have negative pressure rooms and/or wings. They create a seal around the entrance so that infectious particles are pushed back into the room if they try to escape.
For surgery, you have a person who is likely opened up to outside air. In this case, you want any infectious particles to be pushed *back out* if they try to enter the room.
Positive pressure is for protecting whoever is in the room. Negative pressure is for protecting whoever is not in the room.
Houses do not create seals around doors. The fan in your bathroom is merely used to circulate air which pushes humidity and odor out. This air is replenished by other air coming in through an intake register and cracks around the door. Bathroom fans are not comparable to pos/neg pressure rooms since they don’t create any difference in measurable pressure on a whole between outside the bathroom and inside the bathroom.
If you are planning on isolating yourself in your bathroom for either of these reasons, it isn’t going to work.
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