Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Burn Rate Calculator

The personal protective equipment (PPE) burn rate calculator [XLS – 39 KB] is a spreadsheet-based model that provides information for healthcare facilities to plan and optimize the use of PPE for response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Similarly, non-healthcare facilities (e.g., correctional facilities) may find this tool useful for planning and optimizing PPE use as part of the response to COVID-19. This tool can also be used for planning PPE use outside the context of COVID-19, where PPE shortages may also occur due to supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 response (e.g. manufacturing facilities).

To use the calculator, you enter the number of full boxes of each type of PPE that you have in stock (e.g., gowns, gloves, surgical masks, respirators, and face shields). This tool then calculates the average consumption rate, also referred to as a “burn rate,” for each type of PPE entered in the spreadsheet. This information can then be used to estimate the remaining supply of PPE based on the average consumption rate. The spreadsheet is open-ended and can also be used to calculate the use of other types of PPE as well.

System Requirements

Windows* operating system (MS Windows 2000 or newer)
Microsoft Excel (MS Office 2000 or newer)
486 Pentium processor and at least 128MB RAM
2 MB of hard drive storage space

* MS Windows and Office is a copyrighted product produced by Microsoft Corporation, based in Redmond, WA. Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Instructions for Downloading

Before loading and starting the PPE Burn Rate Calculator, you may need to change Excel’s security level. You must first do the following steps:

Open a blank Excel spreadsheet.
Click Tools and then click Macro, choose Security.
Set Security Level to Medium.
Click OK.
Double-click and open PPE burn rate calculator file.
When asked to Disable Macros or Enable Macros, click Enable Macros.

Downloading the Files

We recommend downloading and saving the PPE burn rate calculator spreadsheet to your computer before opening the spreadsheet. Taking this step will open the spreadsheet in Excel rather than your web browser.