Mr Jordan Gear, Ms Jill Davidson, Dr Tom Keating
Biography:
Jill brings 28 years’ as a CEO, nursing director and health planner across Australia and Asia. Her international work spans commissioning nursing divisions, feasibility studies, clinical service design, and population health planning. Her time in Asia sparked a strong interest in infection prevention, leading to ACIPC Foundation completion in 2025.
Abstract:
Surgical site infections (SSIs) remain among the most significant complications of operative care, contributing substantially to postoperative morbidity, mortality, prolonged hospitalisation, and healthcare expenditure with some studies estimating US$100,000 per case. Although the multifactorial nature of surgical infection is well recognised, airborne microbial contamination within the operating theatre continues to represent a significant and modifiable contributor to infection risk, particularly in procedures involving implants, prosthetic materials, or deep surgical fields. Ventilation systems constitute the principal environmental control mechanism for reducing airborne contamination, and optimal design of theatre airflow systems warrants emphasis throughout the hospital design process.
This presentation examines evidence concerning operating theatre ventilation, airborne contamination, SSIs, and the AS 1668.2 standard for HEPA filtration. Epidemiological foundations linking airborne bacteria-carrying particles to postoperative infection, the engineering science underpinning airflow and contaminant transport, and the comparative performance of turbulent mixing, unidirectional airflow, and integrated contemporary airflow systems will be discussed. Consideration of human factors, equipment layout, thermal loads, and operational practices on real-world ventilation performance will be included. Emerging technologies such as far-UVC, combined with optimised ventilation, are increasingly informing infection prevention strategies in theatre environments
The evidence demonstrates there is consistent support that airborne contamination is a preventable contributor to SSIs and that ventilation design materially influences contamination levels within the sterile field. The presentation will conclude that contemporary operating theatre design should prioritise airflow stability, protected-zone integrity, performance verification, and integration of ventilation design with workflow and human-factors engineering rather than reliance on simplistic classifications of ventilation type alone.