I’m on a pump though.
The CDE was just being nice and threw me some pens.
This earthquake thing sure makes you think!
I am using a pump also. I asked for a script to get pens as a backup so besides my vials for the pump, I also have a box of Levemir & Apidra pens.
Yes, it really does make you think.
Every time I leave the house I’m carrying: meter, test strips, lancets, extra bottle of test strips, alcohol prep pads, current Novolog pen (not a backup) and a bunch of glucose (gels, tabs). I’m switching to getting Lantus in the pen, so I’ll have that pen with me, too. Oh, and I usually have eight to ten pen needle-tips with me, too. It’s not enough, obviously, to get me through a HUGE crisis like they’re experiencing right now in Japan, but it will get me through a smaller crisis (e.g. a minor earthquake, my car breaking down on the other edge of town, etc.) I keep two cases of bottled water and more emergency glucose in my van, too.
Jean, you sound like you are prepared - at least for something other than what is going on in Japan.
I have a bag that has all the stuff in it that I need for my diabetic needs - it’s actually what I use every day - but with extra supplies - which I refill as I go low. One thing a friend and I were talking about this afternoon - is our pets - would we bundle them up with us if we had to escape. Sadly, we had to admit, that we would come first. I feel guilty saying this - especially after the recent loss of my Manouchka (lung cancer) . Here’s a website which I’d posted in a blog a few years ago at Diabetes1.org (after the wild fires in Australia) - it has some really great tips of being prepared for disaster (though who can ever be prepared) - it is in all world languages - so if you don’t read English well - you should find your own language 
Kelly WPA – I try to be prepared, but I realized – again!!! – that I’m missing some key items, for example:
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Really good, sturdy, hunky hiking boots with really STRONG soles (the kind you can walk with over lots of broken glass, twisted metal, broken masonry and other major post-earthquake debris) that fit over double socks (inner sock liner and outer all-weather socks) – my friend in Cali said she slept with her hiking boots on her feet for several days after the Northridge quake;
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Ditto a pair of strong leather “work” gloves, sturdy gaiters to cover my lower pants-legs (and keep mud and debris out of my boots) and a sturdy walking stick – for scrabbling over debris after a quake;
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A very high-quality Leatherman type multi-tool and a really strong Swiss Army knife type tool for the twenty tasks you’d never think you’d need them for until you really, really need them – I should have one set of these in my backpack and one in my van, just in case;
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A sleeping bag, a “space blanket”, a tarp, a tent, a poncho, some rope and several pairs of dry, warm socks – plus some sturdy pants, a parka and several pairs of gloves/mittens and a very warm hat with ear flaps – rolled up tight in a sturdy box in my van, along with some water-proof matches and a hand-pump water filter in case I’m out and about when the world comes tumbling down (or I have a break-down in a weird area or go out for a hike and come back to a car that won’t start). What if it’s cool the night when everything falls apart – or even winter? Who says earthquakes or breakdowns or skidding off the road to avoid hitting a kid-out-of-nowhere on a bike only happens on dry, moderate or balmy days? Not in the Seattle area, thank you very much.
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Enough sense to e-mail TWO people before I go somewhere remote by myself, telling them exactly where I plan to be, when to expect to hear from me afterwards, and when to well and truly panic and call the authorities to let them know that I may be in big trouble. (If you think this is over-kill, go rent “127 Hours”.)
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This is really hard for me to remember, but a wise outdoorsman and mountaineer once told me to treat 1/4 down on my gas tank to be the equivalent of empty. That is, always have at least a 3/4 full tank. When you hear stories of people needing to rely on running their car heaters for a few minutes every hour in order to survive, this tip makes a lot of sense. (Just don’t do it if your car exhaust pipe is buried in snow, or you might get CO into the car and never wake up.)
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I live in water world. Why don’t I have one of those “break out your car window” tools?
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OK – this hardly needs saying, but every emergency kit needs (drum roll please): duct tape!!! You can make and repair almost anything with duct tape. Why don’t I have a roll in my van, a roll in my emergency box in the closet and heck, a roll on my desk and next to my bed? Can you really ever have too much duct tape?
Note: This is why I don’t do all these things: it’s scary and overwhelming. I guess would be smart to just chip away at this, focusing on one thing at a time. It’s sooooo tempting to just stick my head in the sand and pretend, “What? Me worry?” But I do live in earthquake country, so that’s not really an option, is it?
I have two plus weeks of everything in an ORANGE “Homer” box i picked up from Home Depot for about $10. I rotate thru the box all of the time. For example, I keep 4-8 vials of meter strips in the box. When there are 4 vials, I put a new box with 4 vials it it and rotate. Same for “pump kits” (everything but insulin for a site change in a zip lock bag). I keep 7-14 in the box. I get my endo go “sample” or script pens of Novolog. Bottom line, my box is ready to go and family and two neighbors know it.
Anna, thanks for the link. I didn’t think about making a go bag for my dog. I probably would not be able to get the cat if something happened, but the dog sticks to me like glue so I would at least get him out.
Jean, I guess you used to watch MacGiver!
Jay, you made a good point about letting someone else know where your stuff is.
Well, if it wasn’t for a scheduling clash I would have been in Christchurch NZ when the 6.3 hit there. As it is I live in the city where everyone expects the big earthquake to hit (wellington). In my work bag (one of these http://www.crumpler.co.nz/Lite/English/Products/Headaitch-Medium-HD0303A.html?image=1 - that I use to carry cataloges around in, I’m a sales rep) I have a bag with a spare bottle of insulin at least one full catridge, so 3ml +, 1-2 spare sets, a bunch of syringes, spare strips, alcohol wipes and hand sanitiser and tape. In summer I tend to chuck the insulin in a frio, the rest goes in the zipped diabetes pocket of the bag. If there was a big shake, I’d ditch the catalogues and just hand onto the bag to make it lighter! There is always a bag of jelly beans and usually a couple of food bars/muslei bars in the bag as well.
For insulin i had my script increased so that I should now have an extra bottle in the fridge at all times - I get 3 months worth at a time, so I get a new script before I get onto the last bottle - thank you state funded healthcare for only having to pay $3 for 7x 10ml vials of insulin! Due to the nature of our house (we rent curently) we think the bottom story/garage may collapse as it is concrete block which may collapse front of the house, we have got samll kits in each of the cars - for me thats a couple of sites, a pack of strips and food and water, I keep a full vial insulin in the bedroom (back of the house) and the rest is in the fridge, at the front of the house. I keep a box of infusion sets a head of what I am using and I have one box in a messenger bag with strips, and glucose.
It is really important to remeber that in a major quake, part of our building may collapse so it is best not to put your entire emergency stash in one place. Here in NZ it is often suggested to put your food and water supplies in a garden shed as even if that collapses, it’s not going to be too heavy to move.
Dee, that is a good idea to spit up supplies. Another thing I never thought about doing! I am glad that you had a scheduling clash the day the earthquake hit. Hopefully that will happen again if one hits Wellington!
I am on a pump and tried to talk to my pharmacist about getting Lantus, syringes and pens, and pen needles from my prescription from before I started the pump in August…just in case. He told me it was wasteful and highly discouraged it “because you have a 24 hour pharmacy always available”. I told him it is is very frightening having a chronic, life threatening illness in which one is dependent on having medication and it may not be in a crisis situation. I don’t want to be dependent on anyone else, because I may be the only one I can count on. I want to be prepared. Unfortunately, we have to deal with insurance companies monthly allowances. I am keeping as much ready as possible . I do have 2 backpacks prepared and a box of insulin in the fridge. I never thought of putting my spare meters in my backpacks, though. That is a good one.
Phyl, my pump broke in Jan and I called Animas around midnight. I had to pull the pump off because it was not wroking. They might have 24 hour service, but if you don’t have a script at the pharmacy, you need to get a doctor to write the script first. I had Levemir in my fridgea and I did not have to worry about running around in the middle of the night to get some. I personally plan to keep a box of Levemir pens in my fridge just in case.
I dumped the last pharmacist because he always questioned why pumpers need to have even two vials of insulin sitting around the house. I tried explaining about having to prime bubbles out at times, I also said I had at one time dropped a vial and broken it. He didnt get it, he didnt care.
Would think these people had half a brain to put themselves in our position.
He acted like I was ripping the insurance off.
thanks for all the tips. I am going to try to get something stocked up, even if it ends up being R.
Am I right in thinking that you can buy NPH and Regular OTC in the US? Given that those insulins are more stable over time than the newer ones (I went for 2 years without refrigerating my insulin while at uni and living in shared accomodation with 1 fridge between 20-30 people and never had a bottle go off) It may be an idea to get a vial of each of those. If the stinky brown stuff really and truely does hit the fan it is entirely possible that you will be without power for days if not weeks, and you will be more concerned about living and having numbers under 400 than being on perfect target. There are parts of Christchurch NZ that as of 14 March did not have running water, sewage lines or power, and there are still parts of the city that do not have water or sewage ulities working due to earthquake damage. In the first 24hr’s even some of the top staff from the US embassy were camped out in an open park with only the clothes they stood up in and blankets from the emergency services. If yopu are at work it is entirely possible that you will be leaving with only what you are wearing. When the buildings were collapsing here people just got out - some got back to their cars only to find they didn’t have keys, others had their keys and were unable (and are still unable) to get their cars out of parking buildings - many cars have been crushing in collapsed parking builings, or are underground beneath unstable buildings. If you have a spares kit in your bag, it’s gotta be in arms reach - if it’s further away than that in a big quake you may not be able to get to it.
Just so y’all know, in a major crisis, I would be happy to share my insulin with any T1’s who need it. I think it’s appalling that insurance companies and HMO’s try to keep us down to the bone on needed medications.
Heck with 'em.
Thank you for opening this topic. Living in California, I have experienced natural and man-made disasters. WIth any and all types of dramatic occurrences in the mind of this diabetic, precautions have become part of my life’s plan. For instance, a plasitc, covered tub for my car contains three (Animas) insulin pump inserts, three cartridges, alocohol swabs (separate form the infamous First Aid Kit), six water bolltes, a plastic jar of glucose tabs, a box of peanut butter “nabs” (crackers), packets of peanuts, a box of dried prunes (dried fruit of choice), a pair of sneakers, blankets, socks, old sweat pants, two hats, two flashlight with appropriate batteries.
Use this list as a check list for yourselves!
However, one disturbing note came to be from an Animas nurse: do not keep your insets in the car “too long” because they [metlt] can become useless in hot weather. That is worrisome.
With that in mind, my back-pack style pocket book (purse), always conveniently at the door, holds a small container of glucose tabs, one inset, one cartridge, and an extra blood glucose meter.
Phew! It’s a lot to carry around on a day-to-day basis, but I feel this has to be done.
I probably would have wondered about keeping the infusion sets in the car - I have had a few things melt on me before from just being in the car for a few hours.
Stephen, that is neat that your father does disaster relief for a living - he can probably give you some really good tips.
Dee, I meant to reply to your question the other day when you posted it & forgot. Yes, you can buy both NPH & Regular insulins without a script in the US. I also thought they were more stable from the point of not dying right away like the newer insulins do. When Laura mentioned it, I thought that would be a good idea to have some on hand as a backup.