Saturday, October 27, 2012

"Bring the Glucagon" Drill

Because of the amazing work done by our local American Diabetes Association (and the ADA on a national level), and the willingness of the Alaska Board of Nursing to listen and change their policies, children with diabetes in Alaska can now have insulin and (more importantly, as far as I'm concerned) glucagon administered by trained non-medical staff. 

Woo-to-the -frickin-Hoo!!


Last Friday, our school nurse trained staff at Bean's school to administer glucagon in the case she is non-responsive and can't drink juice to bring up a severe low.

Yesterday, we joined in the process and assisted (and helped make some important changes) with a drill to see how well the training went.

We ran a total of 4 drills, in a variety of places, since Bean could need to be tended to at any time/place while at school.  I have to admit that I went a little "Mama Bear" for the first drill because the nurse wanted to move Bean into the classroom where they had practiced the week before.  Well, as we all know, D doesn't play by the rules and rarely presents itself in a practiced situation!  I did apologize after, but to her credit she understood and was actually thankful that I had insisted on doing the drill in the hall by the Art room because it pointed out several issues that no one had thought of in the previous training.

We did a drill in each of Bean's classrooms, as her day is split between two teachers.  And we did a drill out in the Music room, which is in a portable on the playground.

The staff did great and responded well, both in the time it took to reach Bean with the needed supplies and 'covering' for other staff if they weren't responding to the radio call for assistance.

We all felt very confident in their abilities to get to Bean with the life saving glucagon in the event she goes so low she looses consciousness.  We, however, plan to continue the fact that in the 28 months since dx, we haven't had to touch that red box for any reason other than to replace it when it expires. :)

But, that being said, the fact that Bean dipped to 40 in the wee hours this morning because of an over zealous temp basal because a correction wasn't bringing her down from a crazy random 400 AND the fact that she went to a new all time low of 35 this afternoon because of a correction that obviously wasn't needed for a 267 just reminds us that those lows can creep up on you and can turn dangerous very quickly.
For the record, Bean did not wake up for the 40 and was only feeling 'kinda hungry' when she was at 35 (and still had a reasonable amount of IOB).  UGH!!!

So, needless to say, we are beyond thankful to the ADA and all their hard work advocating for the school kids in Alaska and to the Alaska Nursing Board for changing their policies so that our Bean, along with countless other kids, can feel safe at school.  (Not to mention the parents feeling that their kids are safe!)

3 comments:

  1. Our lowest low is 32. She was swimming in the pool and said her legs started to feel a little jiggly. Popped some sugar in her and she wanted to go right back out swimming! ACK!

    Yay for Glucagon training and let's hope it never has to be used in an emergency situation.

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  2. Wow! Great news for kids in Alaska! That's fantastic!

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  3. That is beyond awesome. Way to go Bean, Bean's mom, and all of you!

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