I’m normally not into selling or aggressively plugging specific products here, but I’m making an exception today for a couple of new Diabetes Emergency Supplies that could really help our community. You may remember that a while back I was patching together my own little diabetes emergency kit, after some reflection on my chances for survival with Type 1 diabetes during a hurricane, tornado, flood or other emergency.
Well, clearly I’m not the only PWD who’s had this revelation. Gillian Miller of the diabetes supply clearinghouse DiabetesandMore.com had the same idea, during a recent earthquake in Southern California. As Gillain’s 7-year-old Type 1 daughter was diving under a table to stay safe, all Gillian could think was, “What about her insulin? We may lose electricity.”
So here’s her creation, the world’s first commercially available Diabetes Emergency Kit:
For $49.99, the kit includes enough supplies to keep you going for about a week: syringes, glucose tabs and gel, alcohol pads, needle clipper, etc. It does not include insulin, but does provide a Frio cooling pouch to keep your insulin safe for up to 45 hours at a time. It also doesn’t include a glucose meter, but you’ll have the option of adding a SideKick meter with 50 test strips and disposable lancets for an extra fee (TBD) if you like.
DiabetesandMore.com has generously offered DiabetesMine readers a 5% discount on the kit. Just enter this code when ordering: mine1. Offer valid through 10/31/2008.
Another, potentially even more powerful, medical emergency tool has just been launched by reader Stephanie Cion, who suffers from a rare nerve disease called Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. One day while at work, she experienced a septic reaction to her latest treatment. Luckily, she just happened to be on the phone her oncologist at the time. “Otherwise I likely would have collapsed and possibly died as know one knew about my condition – let alone about my treatment. The experience crystallized for me that in an emergency there was basically no way to convey my emergency medical information,” she writes.
What came out of all this was the ingenious new WELLalarm™ system. It utilizes “smart” health ID jewelry, key chains, labels and stickers that each include a unique WELL-ID number, a toll-free number and an emergency URL that enables bystanders and first responders to access vital medical information from your account in an emergency.
Here’s a look at some of the cute charms for kids:
They also offer an array of “smart” bracelets or necklaces for men and women in silver, brushed silver, vermeil and gold.
So the WELLalarm™ system like a technical upgrade from MedicAlert, which offers a similar service but only through a toll-free telephone number. The bracelets and charms there are not embedded with “smart” technology.
The WELLcharms™ give you and your designated contacts “secure, 24/7 access to your medical information from anywhere in the world” without a middleman. You of course determine who has access to what levels of information in your records. If you’ve previously provided WELLalarm with instructions to release your personal health records to a Mr. Tom Smith, for example, then he will be able to access it any time. You can also set parameters for certain pre-designated health info that can be made available to someone helping you in case of an emergency. You can check out their extensive privacy policy here.
They’re not cheap. Prices start at about $170 for the Petite Bead Bracelet in silver. But all include a full year’s worth of Wellalarm premium service.
The Wellalarm Team has generously offered DiabetesMine readers a discount of $15 off any charm. Just enter this code when ordering: diabetesmine. Offer expires at the end of Diabetes Awareness Month, 11/30/2008 (Wellalarm plans to donate a portion of profits to support diabetes research throughout November).
A couple of good offers to help us start getting disaster-ready. Know of anything else we should have in our emergency kits? Please share.
A diabetes emergency pack with back-up supplies is great and everyone should have this, but truth is, insulin does not die that quickly nor does it need to be refrigerated 24/7. If power goes out, insulin is perfectly fine being kept in a close fridge until power is restored. Keeping it in there will keep it cool enough and even if you had it sitting out for 2 or 3 days, there won’t be any damage unless it’s during a crazy heat wave (in which case, FRIO pack would help). Your milk and mayonnaise on the other, well, that’s a different story…
The Well Alarm bracelet sounds great for those really rare, hard-to-understand diseases. Even having a charm with information about someone’s particular type 1 information (especially if they are on injections and don’t have a recorded history of insulin anywhere).
I’ve got to agree with Allison that insulin does not necessarily need to be constantly refrigerated. I tend to refrigerate my Lantus since I usually take it at night when I’m already at home and near my refrigerator, but once I open the box on my Humalog it stays in my diabetes kit and never sees a refrigerator again. Luckily, I spend the vast majority of my time in refrigerated areas which probably helps.
The FDA has some tips: http://www.fda.gov/CDER/emergency/insulin.htm.
I guess the real concern is an emergency during hot summer days when you are unable to keep insulin in air conditioned or refrigerated conditions.
I am admittedly an over packer–especially where my diabetes is concerned. My emergency pack is also my traveling pack. I keep a bag packed with lancets, cotton balls, syringes, alcohol swabs, an extra meter and lancing device and extra pods all ready to go for an out of town trip. I just add the missing elements before we leave. When I return home, the first thing I do is repack that bag. If some disaster did strike, I could grab that bag, the normal bag that I carry and the insulin out of the fridge and be good to go for at least a week, but if I was truly conserving supplies I could go two weeks with it.
I’m going to disagree with Allison. I live in Baton Rouge, and after Gustav hit us, most of my area was without electricity for at least two weeks. It’s above 86 degrees (the safe temperature for insulin) about half of the year in Louisiana. And that includes most of hurricane season.
I don’t know that an entire pre-made emergency kit is necessary, but if you live in the U.S. South or anywhere else where it’s hot a large part of the year, a frio is a good $15 investment. My emergency plan is to get out of town (I went to stay with a friend in another state), but that won’t always be an option.
Don’t forget spare batteries for your meter and pump. And speaking from past hurricane experience, cash comes in really handy in an emergency!
I agree with Meg, and I’ll add that batteries are especially important if you have an emergency when you’re in a foreign country – the specific kind your meter or pump uses may not be easily available!
Now having said that, I’ll also admit that I have no “emergency kit” and I feel pretty lazy about making one since I’ve never been in a disaster since being diagnosed with diabetes. I have everything the kit above includes, even 2 Frios (which are awesome), I guess it’s just a matter of putting it all together in an easy to grab pack. Thanks for getting me thinking about it.
For those who have expressed concern about the storage and activity of insulin, let me just say that before I was diagnosed with Type 1 in 1967 I use to carry and store my insulin in a normal functioning pancreas at 98.6 degrees farenheit.
I don’t have an emergency kit but I do have a “Travel Kit” (a soft eyeglass case) that contains my meter, strips, lancets, insulin pen, and 4 glucose tablets. It attaches to my belt and is always with me.
Today I store my Apidra insulin for my pump in a vial in the refrigerator until it’s ALL used up. I have 3 boxes of Humalog Pens in the fridge that I use and carry as a back up to sudden high blood sugars due to pump and infusion set/site problems. The EXP date on the Pens is JAN 08. The pen in my travel kit along with my meter and strips stays at room temperature and its been in the travel kit non refrigerated since 7/15/08. I’ve used it a few times to bring down high unexplained blood sugars and it has always worked. For me the insulin lasts a lot longer and remains active far beyond the expiration date. In an emergency situation I would definitely use whatever insulin I had with me. It works for me.
Thanks, Amy, for your review! It’s an honor to be featured on Diabetes Mine.
I am sensitive about the price point of the jewelry, especially during these difficult economic times! I have been working very hard with our manufacturers to find ways to lower our prices and am happy to announce that we have met with some success. Some pieces are now priced at $120, including our basic silver necklace circle charm and our adorable bead bracelet (and new bead necklace available in two weeks). Please see these two links.
http://wellalarm.com/store/productDetail.php?productId=5
http://wellalarm.com/store/productDetail.php?productId=52
The emergency pack is usual and all people round you must know how to use.
But Insuline must it be everytime in the refrigerator ? why ?