Common Question: “My OR doesn’t use laminar flow. Does waste hot air still matter?”
Answer: Absolutely. Consider the following:
What is laminar ventilation and what is conventional ventilation?
Operating room air is typically introduced from the ceiling, moves towards the floor, and exits through the side vents. US standards for hospital construction require that operating room ventilation be filtered, at a minimum, to an efficiency of >90% for the removal of germ sized particles. Many ventilation systems do much better than that, by employing High Efficiency Particulate Air filtration commonly known as HEPA, which by definition removes >99.97% of germ sized particles from the airflow.
