Parkland formula calculator: burn fluid volume and hourly rates
For healthcare professionals and students. Check results against your local protocols and clinical judgement; this tool does not give medical advice.
This Parkland formula calculator works out the 24-hour crystalloid volume for burn resuscitation with 4 mL × weight (kg) × %TBSA, then splits it the way the formula intends: half in the first 8 hours from the time of the burn and half over the following 16 hours. Because patients often reach hospital hours after injury, you can enter the hours since the burn and the fluid already given, and it shows the rate needed for the rest of the current period.
You can also switch to the modified Brooke volume of 2 mL/kg/%TBSA, which the American Burn Association’s 2024 guideline recommends as the starting point for adults, or enter your own factor. Use it to check arithmetic and for teaching; your burns service’s protocol decides the actual plan.
How to use the Parkland Formula Calculator
- Enter the body weight in kg or lb.
- Enter the burn size as %TBSA, counting partial- and full-thickness burns only. The rule of nines calculator helps estimate it.
- Choose Parkland (4 mL), Modified Brooke (2 mL) or Other.
- Enter the hours since the burn and any fluid already given since the burn.
- Read the 24-hour total, the rate now and the rate for hours 8–24, then check the notes.
Parkland Formula Calculator features
Time from the burn
The 8-hour window is counted from the time of injury, not arrival, and the rate adjusts for a late start.
Fluid already given
Subtracts pre-hospital and emergency department fluid from the volume due in the current period.
Parkland or modified Brooke
Switch between 4 and 2 mL/kg/%TBSA, or enter another factor your service uses.
Clear working
Total, first-8-hour and 16-hour volumes and rates written out with your numbers.
Safety notes
Flags small burns, child-sized weights, catch-up rates well above plan and fluid already exceeding the allotted volume.
The Parkland (Baxter) formula and a worked example
Charles Baxter and Tom Shires described the regimen in “Physiological response to crystalloid resuscitation of severe burns”, Ann N Y Acad Sci 1968;150(3):874–894: lactated Ringer’s solution, 4 mL per kg per %TBSA over the first 24 hours, half in the first 8 hours after the burn and half in the next 16.
Hand-calculated example (used in the self-test): a 70 kg adult with 30% TBSA burns needs 4 × 70 × 30 = 8,400 mL. Half, 4,200 mL, is due by hour 8 after the burn — 525 mL/h if started at the moment of injury — and 4,200 mL over hours 8–24 at 262.5 mL/h. If the patient arrives 2 hours after the burn having received 500 mL, the remaining 3,700 mL of the first half is due in 6 hours: 616.7 mL/h.
| Formula | mL/kg/%TBSA in 24 h | 70 kg, 30% TBSA | First 8 h | Hours 8–24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkland (Baxter 1968) | 4 | 8,400 mL | 525 mL/h | 262.5 mL/h |
| Modified Brooke | 2 | 4,200 mL | 262.5 mL/h | 131.25 mL/h |
Parkland or modified Brooke?
Patients resuscitated with the Parkland formula often end up receiving more than it predicts — so-called fluid creep — with complications of over-resuscitation. The American Burn Association Clinical Practice Guidelines on Burn Shock Resuscitation (Cartotto R et al., J Burn Care Res 2024;45(3):565–589), which cover adults with burns of at least 20% TBSA, recommend initiating resuscitation at 2 mL/kg/%TBSA to reduce resuscitation volumes. Other services and national courses still teach Parkland. Whichever starting figure is used, the formula only sets the first rate.
Common mistakes
- Timing from arrival. The first 8 hours start at the time of the burn, so a late arrival leaves less time for the first half.
- Counting superficial burns. Erythema without blistering is excluded from %TBSA; including it inflates the volume.
- Forgetting fluid already given. Pre-hospital and emergency fluid counts towards the first 8 hours.
- Treating the number as fixed. The rate is adjusted hour by hour to urine output and clinical response according to the burns protocol.
- Children. Paediatric protocols usually add glucose-containing maintenance fluid; the maintenance fluid calculator shows the Holliday–Segar volume.
Parkland Formula Calculator FAQ
What is the Parkland formula?
4 mL × body weight in kg × %TBSA burned gives the crystalloid volume for the first 24 hours; half is given in the first 8 hours from the time of the burn and half over the next 16 hours. The Parkland formula calculator above does the arithmetic and the hourly rates.
Do the 8 hours start at the burn or at hospital arrival?
At the time of the burn. If a patient arrives 3 hours after injury, the first half of the volume has to be given in the remaining 5 hours, minus any fluid already given.
Which burns count towards %TBSA?
Partial-thickness and full-thickness burns. Superficial burns (erythema only) are not counted.
What is the modified Brooke formula?
The same calculation with 2 mL instead of 4 mL per kg per %TBSA. The American Burn Association’s 2024 guideline recommends starting adult resuscitation at 2 mL/kg/%TBSA.
What fluid does the Parkland formula use?
Baxter and Shires used lactated Ringer’s solution. Your burns protocol specifies the fluid and any additions.
Is the formula used for small burns or children?
The ABA guideline covers adults with burns of 20% TBSA or more. Children follow paediatric burns protocols, which usually add maintenance fluid.