Question: I was reading about Africa’s need for medical oxygen in reference to South Sudan’s new oxygen plant.  In general, how much oxygen is needed per critically ill patient?  

Answer: In general, critically ill patients will need 43,200 liters of oxygen per day, and each patient’s need could last for a week or more. Oxygen supplementation is typically required for COVID patients who have severe illness, and only medical oxygen— at least 82% pure oxygen, free from any contamination, and generated by an oil-free compressor– should be supplied. Per NIH, the optimal oxygen saturation (SpO2) target for severely ill patients is 92% to 96%; medical oxygen needs will vary from patient to patient.  The WHO estimates that severely ill patients will need 10 L/min of oxygen (14,400 L/day) while critically ill patients will need 30 L/min (43,200 L/day).  Meanwhile, a study on the clinical course of severely ill patients requiring oxygen supplementation showed that median oxygen flow during the whole period of hospitalization was 2 L/min (2,880 L/day, much less than WHO’s estimate) and that the average duration of oxygen needs is 8 days (est. 23,040 L/patient).  Finally, the World Bank estimates that “treating a child with severe pneumonia over 3-4 days can require anything from 4,000 to 8,000 cubic liters of oxygen.”  I asked some O2 experts about which estimate to use between the WHO and the small study– as I would have guessed, they suggested using the WHO estimate and also mentioned that children require much less O2, aligning with World Bank estimates.  If you’re interested in tracking global needs, PATH maintains a global oxygen needs tracker.