Dosage Calculations for EMS Providers
Dosage Calculations for EMS Providers
Dosage Calculations for EMS Providers
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<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
<strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>EMS</strong> <strong>Providers</strong> (Part 1)<br />
Ray Taylor<br />
Valencia Community College<br />
Department of Emergency Medical Services
Intravenous Infusion <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Formula<br />
– Volume to be Infused x Administrative Set (10, 15, 60,<br />
etc) Divided by Time in Minutes<br />
– Practice Example<br />
• Order: 2500ml of Lactated Ringers IV in 24 hours<br />
• Drop Factor: 15gtts/ml<br />
• Formula: 2500ml x 15 = 26gtts/min<br />
1440min<br />
* Complete Practice Problems 1-14 Page 1 of <strong>Dosage</strong><br />
<strong>Calculations</strong> Section
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Units of Measurements<br />
– Apothecary<br />
– Household<br />
– Metric<br />
• Most common method used in clinical medicine
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Metric System Fundamental Units<br />
– Grams = Mass<br />
– Liters = Volume<br />
– Meters = Distance
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Common units of conversion<br />
– Grams to milligrams (x 1000)<br />
– Milligrams to grams (divide 1000)<br />
– Milligrams to micrograms (x 1000)<br />
– Micrograms to milligrams (divide 1000)<br />
• Grains to milligrams (x 60)<br />
• Milligrams to grains (divide 60)
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Common units of conversion<br />
– Liters to milliliters (x 1000)<br />
– Milliliters to liters (divide 1000)<br />
– 1 milliliter = 1 cubic centimeter (consider<br />
equivalent)<br />
• 1ml of water occupies 1cc of space
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Pounds (lb) to Kilograms (kg)<br />
– Formula<br />
• Patient’s weight in pounds divided by 2.2<br />
• Example<br />
– 150lb patient divided by 2.2 = 68kg<br />
*Assignment: Complete practice problems on pages 3-5 in<br />
the dosage calculations workbook
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
<strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>EMS</strong> <strong>Providers</strong> (Part 2)<br />
Ray Taylor<br />
Valencia Community College<br />
Department of Emergency Medical Services
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Master Formula<br />
– Desired Dose divided by the concentration on<br />
hand x Vehicle<br />
or<br />
Order divided by the supply x Vehicle<br />
Vehicle is the volume of liquid in which the<br />
supply is contained
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Master Formula<br />
– Example 1 (page 7 in workbook)<br />
• Order: 30mg Demerol IM<br />
• Supply: Demerol 50mg/ml<br />
• Step 1: Evaluate order and supply<br />
Ensure same unit measurement<br />
• 30mg = 0.6ml<br />
50mg/ml
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Master Formula<br />
– Example 2 (page 7 in workbook)<br />
• Order: Streptomycin 250mg IM<br />
• Supply: 0.5gm/2ml<br />
• Step 1: Evaluate order and supply<br />
– Order in mg and supply in gm<br />
– Always convert supply to same unit of measurement as the<br />
order<br />
• Calculate<br />
» 0.5 gm x 1000 = 500mg/2ml<br />
– Order = 250mg x 2ml = 1ml<br />
500mg
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Examples<br />
– Order: Kantrex 150mg IM<br />
– Supply: Kantrex 0.5gm/2ml<br />
– Order: Sodium phenobarbital 100mg IM<br />
– Supply: Sodium phenobarbital 125mg/2ml
<strong>Dosage</strong> <strong>Calculations</strong><br />
• Assignment<br />
– Complete the practice problems on pages 7 –<br />
16 in the dosage calculations worksheets
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