How many mEq's of K would it take to kill a 54lb woman?

bilingueRN · May 7, 2010

I guess the answer to this question would involve what her current K level was. And since it is YOUR punishment, don't ya think you might want to do it yourself instead of asking on a board like this? Just my humble opinion here. Good luck in your future clinicals and career. I hope you really do learn a lot from this.

DayDreamin ER CRNP · May 7, 2010

Ive researched this & looked in my drug book but was unable to find this...

You aren't looking hard enough and/or not in the right place.

I guess the answer to this question would involve what her current K level was. And since it is YOUR punishment, don't ya think you might want to do it yourself instead of asking on a board like this? Just my humble opinion here. Good luck in your future clinicals and career. I hope you really do learn a lot from this.

I totally agree with this too. You will not learn a thing if we tell you. Keep looking and figure it out. You will be way more proud of yourself and will remember it forever.

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GilaRRT · May 7, 2010

A very rough answer should be easy to find. Google is your friend. Search for the LD 50 of potassium chloride. This will most likely be in a gram or milligram per kilogram dose. Clearly, differences between oral and IV will exist. Then, you will need to convert this mass, most likely in grams into mEq. For this, you will have to review chemistry. You will need to convert the grams to moles, the moles into Eq, and the Eq to mEq. Remember an Eq is moles time charge.

DaughteroftheKing · May 7, 2010

I'll keep lookin! Thanks anyways & I will definitely remember...

Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN · May 7, 2010

And your instructor was where when this all happened?

DaughteroftheKing · May 7, 2010

She was right there & caught my wrong math & made me re-do it... the pt wasnt given the wrong dose- the problem was that I didnt do my math correctly or on paper- I just did it quickly in my head & had I not been caught I could have done some damage... which is the point of all of this...

Trauma Columnist · May 7, 2010

Much would depend on the pts baseline condition. For instance, my renal pts typically have K+ in the 8 range and are asymptomatic. What you want to look for though is how much K+ would it take to kill a person instantly.....you should look up executions as lethal injection involved potassium.

PolandM · May 7, 2010

Ask Dr. Kevorkian.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 7, 2010

And another thing to consider is how the K is administered. If you really want to increase your chances of killing someone, regardless of the amount give it by IV push.

Vanfnp · May 8, 2010

Maybe what your instructor was trying to ask was-was the amount you came up with quickly in your head enough to kill a 54# woman? Depending on a patient's coexisting conditions, there is a gray area where various amounts may or may not kill em but might do bad things to their hearts and make them feel very badly. After a certain level, you will reach a lethal dose after which you are sure to kill them. You do not want to do this. Potassium is a dangerous drug, heck they all are. Your teacher sounds wise, you are not experienced enough to "do the math in your head". If you think you are, you are headed for trouble. I'm a math whiz but I have my coworkers check my math cause I like to cover myself fully. Paranoia is your friend. Good luck and I truly mean it!!

ivanh3 · May 8, 2010

Seems like kind of a scary question to me.

Just sayin'