That is brilliant!
Much simpler to just bring along an injector pen in case of emergencies. I always have one either in my shirt pocket or my D-Stuff shoulder bag when Iām traveling, precisely for situations like this. No way I want to get into having to change infusion sets on an airplane, but if I have a pen right with me Iām able to deal with an infusion or pump failure in exactly the way you describe, watching my CGM and doing small corrections as necessary, until I get somewhere more convenient for tackling the set change. A lot more convenient than pulling insulin out of the pump with a syringe!
I think Iāve heard of cases where passengers got medical help from others on board, sometimes a doctor travelling, or someone with syringes.
I always have syringe with me, along with pump, with plan to use from reservoir as backup, even just trips to the store.
There are many very valid reason to ask for medical help while in flight.
The worse thing to do is to tough it out.
I had one medical issue during flight, I assume it was diabetes related because I was newly diagnosed so very ignorant about every thing. My first flight was late they were holding the connecting flight (cross country) and. I was going lower. So I had ten minutes to catch my plane and make a bad choice of food to buy.
Really bad choice. 30 minutes into the flight I passed out, my eyes were dialated and sweating like mad. Not very coherent. So I got the attention of one of the stewardesses and was Avery clear, I was having a medical crises, that I was new diagnosed and was not understanding much of what was happening. They cleared three seats for me to lie down and asked for medical assistance over the PA. Aa stewardess in first class fortunately was a nurse. I guess I had just consumed a unlabeled bunch of Carbs. I remember the conversation of wheather to land. But as long as I was laying down and under a blanket I felt sort of Ok.
They were constantly checking on me and could see I was stabilizing.
THere was no question they would have landed if necessary.
I plan food for my. Trips much better theses days.
When flying. I ALWAYS have the most critical supplies ON MY PERSON. I use as fanny pack to carry essential items that would include a meter, carbs including a bunch of skittles, insulin and needles an/or insulin pens. ALL other medical stuff is in carry-onānothing medical is in check-in luggage.
I have two fanny packsāone that is larger for traveling and the other for everyday use that holds quite a bit less. I couldnāt give one flying cr*p if a fanny pack isnāt ācoolā.
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I have just one other question, I checked on line for medical equipment bags and they all were pushing that they werenāt noticeable look just like a purse.
I would think I would want a clearly labeled bag as medical equipment in big letters for travel.
Why?
It seems that it would remedy the situation of having the carryon removed from the plane. When people need to check their bag after boarding the announcement mentions that all required medication should be removed from the bag. Incase you are worried about being separated from your stuff
It seems that us what this thread is about
I did note for ātravelā not for dialy use I assume you wear an id tag
I keep all my medical supplies together in a bright blue bag inside my carry-on luggage. I do this because itās easier for security purposes (I also keep all liquid medication in a clear bag within the blue bag, so I can pull it out to put with my liquids). Iām visually impaired, so I wanted my medication to be all in one place and in a bag thatās easy to see. Iām currently in the process of upgrading my medication bags and getting something that is airport friendly is definitely one of my top considerations. (Note, in my case medications are quite a bit more than just diabetes supplies.)
The odd time that my carry-on bag has not fit underneath my seat or has needed to be checked, having everything in one smaller kit also enables me to grab that kit form the rest so that it stays with me at my seat during the flight. I usually do this even if my stuff is just in an overhead compartment, since during a low or allergic reaction I donāt want to be be dealing with trying to get something out of an overhead bin.
Iāve never had to ask for medical assistance while on board a plane, but once during an allergic reaction felt bad enough that I was very close to alerting the flight attendant. Better to be safe than sorry in these cases, in my opinion, though I say this as someone who often doesntā ask for help even when I should.
My pediatric endocrinologist told me that I couldnāt check my insulin because the hold can get to below freezing and can damage the insulin. Does anyone know if this is true or not?
I always just accepted that as fact, so I always take all my insulin (even when I was taking a 3 month supply) in my carry-on. I normally fly international, so itās not an issue, but when I went to Washington DC, they asked people to check their bags. I told them no because I had insulin in both my suitcase and my purse, and they moved on. They didnāt even ask my brother to check his bag after I said about the insulin. But this was a voluntary surrender, not like your situation.
Once, I checked my bag, only to have it lost in Seattle, but there was no insulin in it. When I got on the plane, I started throwing up (not diabetes related), and the stewardess told me if people are sick BEFORE takeoff, then the plane crew is supposed to take them off the flight. I did not want to be stuck in Seattle, so I pleaded with her that I was not contagious, and she let me stay. If the insulin had been in a lost bag, and they wouldnāt let me fly home, it would become an emergency real fast, which is another reason to fight to keep your stuff with you.
You shouldnāt check your insulin simply because airlines lose baggage all the time, and tsa and baggage handlers rifle through bags and steal things that look interesting.
I believe, although wouldnāt bet my life on it, that baggage compartments of most commercial airliners are pressurized and climate controlledā¦
I fly all the time and I would never consider having ALL of my insulin, test strips, and important paperwork, anywhere but with me at all times. Random dude throwing your bags around within the bowels of the airport doesnāt give a damn about your insulin and if it reaches your destinationā you doā why would you ever let them be involved ?
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Thatās the unfortunate thing about the OPs situationā¦ it was actually a voluntary surrender, it sounds like maybe she was just caught off guard and didnāt realize that it was optional right in that hectic monent, and the airline certainly didnāt make it clearā¦ but I guarantee you if sheās in that situation again it would unfold differently
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I have the same issue going trough security because I have a medical device that is pretty rare and going through a magnetometer could cause the batteries to explode. (It is not even completely approved by the FDAā¦they call it a āhumanitarian deviceā)s. The TSA wants to know what it is. Why havenāt they heard of it *less than 1,500 have been implanted so far in the US).
I would write a very kurt letter to Delta and give them an appropriate amount of time to respond. I would think 30 days would be fair. Everyone else? If they didnāt respond at that point, I would send the same letter with a cover letter explaining that you sent the letter earlier to āX personā and havenāt heard back then send it and then post it on your, their and their competitorsā facebook and twitter pages. Watch how fast you get a response.
I would demand an apology as well as some money (not a lot) but having sugar that high is scary and you feel like you are literally going to dieā¦at least I do. Feeling like that because they wanted to shave a couple of minutes should cost them.
Sam ā I have a huge amount of travel experience. While my travel schedule has calmed down in the past year, I typically travel on business every 3 weeks or so. Iāve also travelled extensively abroad. And, Iāve lived in Vietnam and Mexico.
So, yeah. I was just caught flatfooted. I was tired and I wasnāt thinking.
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Thatās what I meantā¦ caught off guard, etcā¦
Just wasnāt sure how to better say itā¦ Iāll edit my comment
My husband is a pilot, though hasnāt worked for an airline in a long time. Unfortunately heās gone on a trip at the moment, so I canāt ask him, but he has told me stories before. I do know that there is a sealed medical kit on board every flight with at least one attendant. There is a minimum content list, but the content can vary beyond that.
I do know that injectable dextrose is on that list. (I dunno why, but not glucagon. Maybe itās more shelf stable?). I donāt know if thatās a prefilled kit, or if itās a stand some syringe, though. I know there are also other injectables on that list. There ARE syringes on the list, but he said theyāre massive. Iām guessing theyāre more procedural than for injecting medication.
Donāt ever be afraid afraid to ask the flight attendants for help. Thatās their real job. Theyāre not just mile high bartenders. Theyāre there to assist in emergencies. They will make the overhead announcement, tooā¦ but only only as a last resort, so as not to upset other passengers. Panic and mass hysteria are serious concerns when you mention any sort of emergency, even personal medical ones, to people stuck in a tube a mile off the ground.
The big thing to know, is to NEVER wait until the last minute. The flight attendants arenāt allowed to open the medical kit without instructions from a doctor. The attendant has to notify the pilot, who has to radio that thereās an emergency (or possibly text message flight ops since thatās possible now, I donāt know), who then has to locate a doctor to give the order to open the medical kit and how to use itās contents.
Itās generally not that difficult to locate a doctor, though. Big airports have them on-site for emergencies, and even the smallest of airports with ground control have them on call.
If all else fails, the pilot in command does have Marshall authority. He can make any decision necessary to protect the aircraft and those onboard, without legal risk back on the ground. But that is highly discouraged for PR reasons, mostly. Heās a hero if things go well, but can sink the airline if they donāt.
You should also know that airlines are always authorised to take your carry on bags. And itās not even necessarily for faster boarding. Weight balance is a major concern on a plane, and bags are major variable there. You usually walk across a scale when you board. The computers will calculate if thereās a problem and if the remaining bags need to go in a different compartment. Theyāll pretty much never take your āpersonal itemā, though, such as a purse, small backpack, briefcase, or computer case. You should always keep at least an emergency stash of supplies in that lap-sized item small enough for underseat storage
Moral of the storyā¦ Tell your flight attendants what is going on! They canāt get you help it they donāt know thereās a problem. Donāt ever question what actually counts as an emergency, either. Thatās not your call on a plane. There is a line of command that decides these things. And it is serious. We all know just how life-threatening diabetes can be. There is ZERO excuse or reason to suffer in silence. Iām shy myself, so can understand that it is intimidating to raise a fussā¦ But in this case, suck it up and get it done.
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No sweat. 
Try going through customs in 1999 in Hanoi with 6 months of syringes and supplies. YIKES.
I swear tho, a bottle and syringe has never let me down, never occluded, never blew up because it was too humid (Bahamas), never said it was working BUT IT WASNāT, and on and on ā¦
Yes, I hear youā¦ your post is another reminder of why pumping isnāt for me.
I completely get the āIām gonna power through this episode even though I should probably ask for helpā attitude, I do it to myself all the time and heck Iām almost always able to power through. But when not asking for help doesnāt work, how can I blame someone else, or demand something in return for my foolishness in not asking for help when I clearly needed help?
My son is on the spectrum and I have friends who are medical professionals who work with those on the spectrum. Learning to ask for help doesnāt come naturally for everyone. Sometimes we have to learn to educate others, when to ask for help. Yet maybe we are too stubborn or hard-headed or stoic to ask for it ourselves.
āPowering throughā a low bg when I have all the tools to raise it back up and I can monitor the recovery using my bg meter is one thing.
I also get that our struggle for bg control is a very personal struggle and understand completely not letting anyone else have that power over me.
But itās a lot harder for me to justify powering-through a complete lack of insulin delivery, the complete lack of tools to deliver insulin, and the onset of DKA. Thatās just never gonna work. Yes, I am remembering being in DKA before diagnosis and needing help but not getting it soon enough and spending two weeks in the hospital. This isnāt just a high bg which I donāt like. This is a complete lack of insulin.
You must have some Cadillac insurance because the coinsurance for my pump supplies plus a pen would be $$$$$$