What Are We Even Talking About?

Sometimes it is required to give so many cc’s per minute to a given patient. In order to give a certain amount of volume (in cc’s or ml), one needs to speak the language of the drip chamber. The drip chamber provides clinicians with the ability to deliver specific amounts of a fluid every minute. The relationship is based on the number of drops it takes to equate to 1 cc (ml). If the medics need to deliver 10 cc (ml) of a solution to a patient with a 10 drop IV administration set, the medics, the medics would need to know how many drops it takes to equal 1 ml (cc). A 10 drop IV administration set delivers 1 ml for every 10 drops that come through the drip chamber (see image above). Knowing that the drip chamber gives 1 ml for each 10 drops, the medics can determine how many ml the patient needs every minute, then convert the ml into drops.

As long as you are sure you know this fact, then calculating an IV drip rate is no problem. Here is the typical formula that we use:

Volume * Drip Factor (Drip Set)
__________________________

Time (minutes)

ORDERED:  IV Normal Saline 100 cc/hr
GIVEN:  Normal Saline 1000cc bags, 15 drop set
ADMINISTER:

100cc   *   15 drop set                1500   (total number of drops to administer 100cc)
_________________                 ____

60 minutes                                    60                   25 drops a minute

All you are doing is taking the number of cc’s you want to administer and multiplying it times the drip factor. If you were using a 60-drop set, you would multiply times 60. If you were using a 20-drop set, you would multiply times 20. You are calculating the number of drops it would take to administer x cc’s. After you have calculated how many drops to administer for the entire total, then divide the number of drops by the time in minutes get your drip rate.

Once you have determined how many drops per minute to administer, all you need to do is count the drops that fall into the drip chamber per minute. An easier way to accomplish this is to divide the number of drops by 4 and count the number of drops that fall in 15 seconds