IV flow rate calculator
IV flow rate calculator
The pump rate in ml per hour, or the hours an infusion will take at a stated rate — and a warning when the two figures you enter disagree with each other.
How this is calculated
Rate = volume ÷ hours, when the time is prescribed. Time = volume ÷ rate, when the rate is prescribed. If both are entered and they disagree, the page says so instead of choosing one for you.
- A rate and a time are two readings of the same prescription. When they disagree, the discrepancy is the finding: re-read the prescription and check it with a second person rather than assuming the arithmetic settles which figure is right.
- This page does the arithmetic and prints the unit beside every answer. It has no patient in front of it: it does not diagnose, does not choose or change a treatment, and does not replace the prescription, protocol or formulary you are working under. It has not been reviewed by a clinician for use in care, so treat it as a check on your own working — confirm the figure with an independent calculation and a qualified clinician before it is acted on.
When a prescription gives a volume and a time, the pump needs a rate; when it gives a volume and a rate, the shift needs to know when the bag will finish. This page answers either direction, and says so when the two figures you enter do not agree.
Rate and time are the same prescription read two ways
Volume divided by hours gives millilitres per hour. Volume divided by a rate gives hours. There is no third formula, and no allowance for a drip chamber to fill — the page is arithmetic on the numbers in front of it. Where both a rate and a time have been written down, the page computes each and compares them: a disagreement is reported rather than silently resolved in favour of one, because the discrepancy is the thing worth seeing.
Questions readers ask
What if the rate and the hours disagree?
Re-read the prescription and check it with a second person. The page shows both figures and flags the difference; it cannot know which one the prescriber meant, and choosing the more convenient one is not a safe way to settle it.
Does this allow for the time a bag takes to be changed?
No. The answer assumes the infusion runs continuously at the stated rate from the moment it starts. Handover, a bag change or a line that needs re-siting are real interruptions that the arithmetic cannot see.
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