What is the epinephrine dose for adults and children?

• A. 0.03 to 0.05 mg for adults; 0.015 mg for children
• B. 0.003 to 0.005 mg for adults; 0.0015 mg for children
• C. 0.3 to 0.5 mL for adults; 0.15 mL for children
• D. 0.3 to 0.5 mg for adults; 0.15 mg for children

Answer: (B)

Dosing epinephrine comes down to knowing the concentration you’re using and converting volume to milligrams. If the solution is 1:100,000, that’s 0.01 mg per milliliter. Giving 0.3 to 0.5 mL to an adult delivers 0.003 to 0.005 mg (3–5 micrograms). For a child, 0.15 mL delivers 0.0015 mg (1.5 micrograms). That direct volume-to-dose calculation with the 1:100,000 concentration lines up with the numbers in the option. The key idea is always check the concentration first and then convert volume to dose accordingly. If a different concentration were used (for example 1:1000), the resulting mg amounts would be different, so always align the calculation to the concentration in your protocol.