Question

Negative pressure rooms are sometimes referred to as source isolation rooms, while positive pressure rooms are sometime called protective isolation rooms. Explain the thinking behind these names.

Answer 1

The pressure rooms are very widely used in hospitals to ensure the safety of the patients and other people around them. There are two types of pressure rooms. These are:

1. Negative Pressure Rooms:

The negative pressure rooms are termed so because of the low pressures maintained inside the rooms relative to the outside. As the pressure inside is lower, this results in the air flowing from outside to inside. Therefore, particles and infectious agents inside the trapped inside and will not be able to leave the rooms. Therefore, such rooms are used for isolating the patients that are infectious to protect other people and doctors from getting infected. Hence, they serve as isolation wards.

2. Positive Pressure Rooms:

The positive pressure rooms are termed so because of the high pressure maintained inside these rooms relative to the outside. As a result, the air will only flow from the inside to the outside. Therefore, particles that are present outside like the infectious agents cannot enter the room and the infectious agents inside the room are removed out by the flow of air. Thus, there is no repeated flow of air inside the room. Hence, these rooms serve as protective isolation rooms allowing the patients to be protected from getting infected.

The two rooms are summarized in the diagram below. The left one is a negative pressure room while the one to the right is the positive pressure room.