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A survey sent to fellows of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) aimed to document issues affecting gender equity in the anaesthesia workplace. A response rate of 38% was achieved, with women representing a greater proportion of respondents (64.2%). On average women worked fewer hours than men and spent a larger percentage of time in public practice; however, satisfaction rates were similar between genders. There was a gender pay gap which could not be explained by the number of hours worked or years since achieving fellowship. The rates of bullying and harassment were high among all genders and have not changed in 20 years since the first gender equity survey by Strange Khursandi in 1998. Women perceived that they were more likely to be discriminated against particularly in the presence of other sources of discrimination, and highlighted the importance of the need for diversity and inclusion in anaesthetic workplaces. Furthermore, women reported higher rates of caregiving and unpaid domestic responsibilities, confirming that anaesthetists are not immune to the factors affecting broader society despite our professional status. The overall effect was summarised by half of female respondents reporting that they felt their gender was a barrier to a career in anaesthesia. While unable to be included in statistics due to low numbers, non-binary gendered anaesthetists responded and must be included in all future work. The inequities documented here are evidence that ANZCA's gender equity subcommittee must continue promoting and implementing policies in workplaces across Australia and New Zealand., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR) are a high level of respiratory personal protective equipment. Like all mechanical devices, they are vulnerable to failure. The precise physiological consequences of failure in live subjects have not previously been reported. We conducted an observational safety study simulating PAPR failure in a group of nine healthy volunteers, wearing loose-fitting hoods, who were observed for a period of ten minutes, or until they requested the experiment be aborted, with continuous monitoring of gas exchange. Relative to baseline, participants demonstrated median reductions in peripheral oxygen saturation of 3.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) -4% to -2%; P  = 0.0039) and fraction of inspired oxygen of 0.045 (95% CI -0.05 to -0.04; P  = 0.0039), and median increases in inspired partial pressure of carbon dioxide of 27 mmHg (95% CI 23.5-32 mmHg; P  = 0.0039), end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide of 11 mmHg (95% CI 7-16 mmHg; P  = 0.0039) and minute ventilation of 30 l/min (95% CI 19.4-35.9 l/min; P  = 0.0039). Median collateral entrainment of room air into the hood was 17.6 l/min (interquartile range 12.3-27.0 l/min). All subjects reported thermal discomfort, with two (22.2%) requesting early termination of the experiment. Whilst the degree of rebreathing in this experiment was not sufficient to cause dangerous physiological derangement, the degree of reported thermal discomfort combined with the consequences of entrainment of possibly contaminated air into the hood, pose a risk to wearers in the event of failure.