Diabetes and Emergencies - Preparing for the Unexpected!

My son became a diabetic in February 2007. Only a few short months later, tornado season started. Preparing for emergencies was not discussed during our training at the hospital. Nor did I give it much thought until we were confronted with the possibility of having to go into our basement for an extended period of time!

We were watching the weather reports, and initially got the typical flashlights and radio. Suddenly I realized that I had to also include his testing and injection supplies as well as food to handle lows. I also was not prepared for storing refrigerated insulin vials if the electricity went out.

First, as with all emergencies, make sure that you have flashlights and a battery operated radio. It would also be wise to have a battery-operated lantern, especially if you have to manually fill syringes and give the injections. During the power outage, my son had to hold the flashlight while I filled his syringe and he also had to hold the light on the injection site while I gave the injection. I was not real coordinated in normal situations, and I was not much better during this time either!

Make sure that you have a supply of juice boxes and protein. You do need to keep track of expiration dates on these items! Cheese and crackers, as well as Beef Jerky and Slim Jim's, are examples of items you could have in supply. Also, you will need to have bottled water for times when you are having a high and need to increase your liquid consumption.

Keeping insulin vials cold won't be an issue if you have a gas-powered generator. If you are not this lucky, you could have a small cooler with pre-frozen ice packs stored in your freezer. Also, you could purchase a small travel refrigerator that plugs into a car phone or lighter jack. There is one type of car unit that can also keep things warm, which works well if you are trapped in your car during a blizzard, or without heat in your house. One good thing is if you are not able to keep the insulin cold until power comes on, at least it is good for thirty days outside the refrigerator.

Because of expiration dates on test strips, it is costly to keep extras stored "just in case". Needle tips and syringes can be stockpiled in both the basement and car. The best thing to do is to have a toolbox or other plastic container nearby so that you will be able to put your supplies inside within seconds. If you cannot do this during extreme emergencies, make sure that your kit that you take with you daily has a full supply of test strips and needles.

Most importantly, keep in the habit of wearing your medical attention bracelet or chain. It is very easy to get out of the habit, so make sure that you have it on you at all times.

These suggestions work well for all types of emergencies, such as blizzard, flooding, or power outages. So take the time to check and prepare your supplies, and come up with a plan so that your health is not in jeopardy.