Yesterday, my neighbor called for help and asked me to bring my Emergency Glucagon Kit. She already called 911 but, she thought I could get there faster. Her brother was having a bad low bg and they tried to give him some OJ but, he would just spit it out. I asked what his bg was but, no one had checked it. They didn’t know how to use the meter. So, I checked it and it was at 43. I believe it had started going back up by the time I checked it. I’m not sure if the kit scared him or if he was able to get a little juice down but, I didn’t have to use the kit.
I had to show them how to use the meter. And, I told them that if they didn’t know how to turn off his pump, they could just cut the line. Just make sure he knows you cut it when he comes back up so that he can insert a new set.
Anyway, curious to hear if any of you have any similar stories to share?
Good for you for helping out! I would also tell them (or have him tell them) that if he is non-responsive they shouldn’t try and force juice down his throat as this could cause him to choke.
Well thank you (here’s a bow) but, I surely don’t consider myself a hero. LOL
You’re right, to her credit she called 911. We live in a rural area and it takes the ambulance a while to get here. I thought she did well when she thought about the kit I have. Afterwards, she said I’m definately calling his doctor for a kit.
I have a youg guy here at work. I must have helped him 3 or 4 times in the past 1 1/2 years. I usually sit him dow in my office and give him some of my glucose tabs after I ceck his BG. I then tell him to sit for 20 minutes and we will recheck his number again.
I administered glucagon to a friend. His girlfriend went home and found him passed out on the couch. She called the paramedics and then called me to find out what to do. I told her to rub some honey on the inside of his cheeks and I jumped in a taxi. I beat the ambulance there and measured to confirm the low (which was under 30 I think) and then gave him the glucagon injection. About 10-15 minutes later, the paramedics arrived and gave him a glucose IV. We stayed there until his blood sugar came up and he was able to communicate.
It was really scary to see it – for both me and my husband. I think that we developed a healthy fear of severe lows. After this experience, my husband occasionally woke me up during the night to check my blood sugar just because he thought that I was breathing in a strange way. I have yet to need a glucagon or assistance to return from a low, but this experience makes me want to prevent my loved ones from ever dealing with that, if possible.
Sometimes a “re-direction” in behavior when we are really low and still “upright” is needed. Stories I could tell - never have needed glucagon or EMS (praise God) but ask my hubby of the times he chased me around the house at 3 or 4 in the morning. One of his favorite things was to offer me a coke (real, sugared soda) that he had stirred a teaspoon or so of additional table sugar into it. (About 6 to 8 ounces of soda in a cup). For some reason I just must have thought it was an ok thing to drink. But OJ - forget it, I would knock it out of his hand!
How wonderful you were close enough to help your neighbors out. Low sugars can really cause people to radically change behaviors and it can be quite scary.
I didn’t have to until today. I am a teacher (first grade). Across the hall from me in one of the kindergartens is a little guy with recently diagnosed T1. He had his first low blood sugar today (which wasn’t really low at all (89), but considering he’s been running 300s, he FELT low). For some reason he didn’t have an emergency kit in his classroom and someone came to ask me if I had a regular soda in my room. I didn’t, but keep juice boxes in case of my own lows. I ran one across the hall to him…and then it took a LOT of effort to get him to drink it. He kept insisting he was hungry (so I got him a handful of Cheerios too) and didn’t want to drink it. I don’t think he fully understood how much better he’d feel once he did. Finally he was convinced, and he sucked it down and felt better and was all smiles a few minutes later.
Nothing severe…I’ve never had to give glucagon or anything like that.
My daughter is a Type 1 like me but she’s (so far) never had one of those “bad” lows. I’m greatful for that for her. But she & her dad and sister know what to do if I fall low. She can usually get her’s back up by drinking OJ she’s had to give me gluagon injections b’f when she was under 10. It’s a good think we both know what to do for the other.
That’s fantastic that you were able to help someone. My neighbor would be screwed as I haven’t had glucagon around for like 10-15 years, maybe mid-1990s?
Aside from helping out some fellow D camp attendees by recognising some early symptoms, my father in law is a type 2. He has been caught out a couple of times and I have had to offer some advise and apply the OJ fix. Nothing that has required the use of a glucagon shot though…
I haven’t since I was DX but I grew up taking care of my mom. I still remember back in my scout days a article in BoysLife(think thats the scout mag) about a kid who aunt was T1 and how he save her life by noticing the signs of a Hypo. My young mind did the equivalent of WTF and I just remember thinking I had to deal with that everyday.
I have at work the few time I have crashed had a T2 work buddy notice and make sure I was ok a few times. But I have yet to have to help anyone since DX
I was once shopping in the grocery store, when I came upon a girl about my age slumped over in the aisle with a store employee sitting next to her. They had managed to deduce that she was diabetic and they had already called the EMTs, but didn’t know what to do beyond that. She didn’t have a meter on her, so I deduced by her lapse in consciousness and shakiness that she was probably low rather than high given that I’ve seen my dad act the same way when he’s low. The girl was conscious and talking but it wasn’t really making any sense and she was really disoriented. I had a little travel sized thing of glucose tabs on me, so I gave them to her but she wouldn’t take them. I asked the store employee if it was okay for me to get a bottle of OJ off the shelf and give it to her because I would pay for it and she said that was fine, so I managed to get her to drink a little bit of juice before the paramedics came and took care of her. I’m always afraid of going low in public like that!
Yeah, doctors don’t teach you much. You have to rely more on CDE’s, books, or mostly from sites like TuDiabetes, etc.
Would you believe my Primary Physican didn’t know that exercise could lower your bg’s! She only treats type II’s and her comment was, “I didn’t know that, maybe it’s because none of my patients exercise”!!! I thought that was no reason for her not to know.
