Review of IV Rate Calc http://www.spazthecat.com Recipient of the PDA cortex golden software award

Andy is a clinical pharmacist at Mt. Carmel East Hospital in Columbus, OH. Andy built IVRate Calc because he couldn't find any programs that would calculate IV drip rates that didn't rely on some other third party program to function.

The IV Rate Calculator is a program designed to calculate an intravenous drip rate in ml/hr. It features a user editable database of drugs to speed data entry. Or, you can choose not to use any of the drugs in the database and just enter the drug concentration manually. It requires no external math libraries or other programs.

This application will be of particular interest to Critical Care Nurses who are frequently titrating drip rates.

I have entered varying concentrations and weights and it has provided the correct drip rate each time. It is easy to use and comes with Dobutamine and Nitroglycerin already loaded. You can easily add other drugs. I added Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Nitroprusside. It calculates drugs delivered in mcg/kg/min or mcg/min. It will calculate weights in kg or lbs. When you add the drugs (say Dopamine) you enter the concentration you usually use (400 mg/500 mls premixed) in your unit. If you need to change the concentration (400 mg/250 mls for restricted fluid volume) you can do that when you select the drug from the pull-down menu. Otherwise just enter the dose you want plus the patient's weight and tap OK.

It's that elegant, and that simple.

Editor PDA cortex