Diabetes disaster preparedness - diabetic survival kit?

[alex200274]

I have been a type 1 diabetic for just over 20 years now, and despite some bade hypos here and there overall I’m in excellent health. However as a diabetic my life is scheduled around daily routines involving planning and control. I have always had a slight paranoia on how well I could cope or survive if I was caught in a disaster such as the recent events in Japan, disruptions in North Africa, or even past events such as Haiti, and Katrina etc.
 
A while back out of curiosity I contacted various UK health bodies (including Diabetes UK) to ask if there was any information that discusses in detail the management and control of diabetes for a victim caught during an unprecedented event where access to medicine or food may be in short supply - disappointingly I didn’t get any feedback.
 
Obviously a type 1 diabetic cannot survive without insulin but despite the topic being somewhat extreme and unlikely it would be helpful to know:

- How one could sustain their well being based on a limited supply of insulin
- Natural food and supplements that can reduce your blood sugar
- A specific diet to adopt
- Weather tips – hot or cold
- Managing control after an injury
- Storage of medicines if caught in an environment with no refrigeration which may shorten the life span of your medicine.
- Should diabetics keep a survival kit – if so what to store?

This may sound over precautious on my behalf but I have always made sure I have at least six months supply of insulin kept in my fridge (I usually keep it all grouped together in a tupperware box so I can grab the whole lot should I need it, with a spare injection pen, glucagon injection etc).  

 

[noblehead]

alex,

A bit over cautious if you ask me, but if a survival kit makes you feel better then I can't see no harm in keeping one!

Nigel

 

[cugila]

Ditto.....what Nigel said.......

You could get run over tomorrow and think of all that Insulin going to waste ! :wink:

 

[alex200274]

I don't literally have a survival kit, I just keep my medicines grouped together in case I need to grab my stuff in an emergency (i.e. Should something happen I can leave the house quickly with all my medicines etc). As a child I grew up in California (near San Francisco) and we always had survival kits at home with drills in case a major eathrquake should happen we had food water etc. When I was in the big quake of 87 it wasn't that bad but none the less all the training we had paid off.

So I guess maybe I have a different mindset towards things. However here in the UK we live in a fairly safe environment but that doesn't mean nothing could ever potentily happen.

I'm just curious if there is any official UK health publications on how to manage your diabetes in the event of being a victim to an environmental disaster and no access to medicine/supplies etc.

 

[copepod]

In case of being run over, leave note to relatives / house mates, with insulin stash,instructing them to donate insulin to IDDF to send overseas.

In my 15 years since diagnosis, including leading a month long expedition in Costa Rica, 3.5 month expedition in Chile, Falklands & South Georgia, hut to hut cross country skiing in Norway, gite to gite hiking in Atlas Mountains, numerous multi day camping trips, including backpacking, kayak touring etc, in UK & mainland Europe etc, I've developed a few techniques.
I've always managed to keep my insulin within temperature range, using low tech methods such as stainless steel vaccuum flask, filled with cool water; keeping out of direct sunshine; not leaving in sealed tents and vehicles; simple evaporation cooling by wrapping in damp cloth and replacing water as it dries.
I eat anything and everything - including roadkilled pheasant, rabbits & geese shot by someone else, but gutted & prepared by me; line caught, gutted & prepared mackerel; meals prepared by Chilean ranchers - delicious, although carbohydrate content was a bit of a guess.
I guess that minimising carbohydrate in diet and maintaining high levels of physical activity could be helpful in making insulin go further.

 

[cugila]

This first link is from 2008 where DUK, IDF and DEC all were getting together to formulate a 'cunning plan'...... Now, I have no idea how far or if anything ever got past the 'talk' stage and action to help Diabetic's who need certain drugs was ever formulated. Might be an idea to take it up with all 3 organisations perhaps..........

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/18789.php

DUK (Diabetes UK) : http://www.diabetes.org.uk/

IDF (International Diabetes Federation) : http://www.idf.org/

DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee : http://www.dec.org.uk/

 

[spideog]

Luckily we are probably only limited to the likes of a flood cutting us off from the rest of the country for a few days in the UK so shouldn't be an issue to last a week or so on our existing supplies even if you were to loose power to your fridge in that time.

If civilisation were to collapse due to revolution/ war/ zombies then we would be pretty stuffed after the initial supplies ran out though I think. I guess I could stretch out the supplies to last a few days longer if I knew there was no fresh supplies coming in soon, but it wouldn't be fun very quickly.

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

After experiencing the recent floods in QLD (Australia) I would strongly recommend that everyone have some sort of disaster pack. You may be surprised how quickly panic buying sets in and there is nothing on the supermarket shelves. The chemists rationed out supplies and worked together to ensure demand for medicines could be met. We didn't have milk for a week and you couldn't buy bread, flour, sugar, eggs within a day of the disaster. Fuel ran out but because we were locked in anyway it didn't really matter to most people. There were incidences of violence for fuel and other products.

I certainly had plenty of supplies for my sons diabetes but he had a massive diet change as he had to eat what was available and not his usually diet. I never lost power but houses not far from me were without power for over a week. Some of those places did not have town water and had no power to run pumps. Until you experience the knock on effect it is hard to imagine. You also have to watch your local community deal with grief and loss on a huge scale.

Some sort of survival pack should be in every household, it is too late to do it after the event. I now have batteries, torch, candles, powdered milk, water and tinned food in my pantry just for an emergency.

 

[SteveJT]

Not surprisingly the basic question is not answered at all, or with brief surficial answers. It seems the health care community just doesn't get it. (Now don't get me wrong , I am all for a Diabetes emergency kit and have one myself, living in Florida, I never have had to go more than 3 weeks without power, and even then the Emergency Agencies were all intact if I needed them) You see, in a worst case scenario, the hospitals, doctors, and National Health Depts are DEAD You alone as a diabetic are left to try and survive. There is no "DUK (Diabetes UK) , IDF (International Diabetes Federation), DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee" The buildings they were formerly housed in are now a smoldering ruins. You couldnt call them anyway because your land line phone as well as your cell phone is DEAD. Your last bottle of insulin is empty, and your power is out and all you have is a few cans of soup, vegetables, and fruit left in your cupboard, they will last another day or so and they are full of the natural sugars which WILL drive your sugar up. You saw a vending machine that was tipped over full of CANDY BARS! More sugar! Under this circumstance we begin to rack our brains to answer two questions.....


(1) What food can I eat that will not drive my sugar up and will sustain me as long as possible?

http://www.healthexpertadvice.org/forum/Diabetes/How-long-can-a-insulin-dependant-diabetic-usually-survive-without-taking-there-insulin-before-dying-55816.htm



(2) What source of Insulin - syringes can I seek to try and treat my Diabetes, wild pigs and try try and chop up their pancreas, or perhaps wild dogs pancreas?

http://www.heroinesinhistory.com/essay10-02.html

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2002/01/01/3495/evas-insulin/

http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Diabetes/diabetes_herbs.htm


OK lets set aside those agencies that WON'T be there to help, and lets talk about independent survival, best to prepare ahead rather than panic later! I hope to study this subject myself, as well as get some educated input from you guys, Thnx

 

[spideog]

If it was just a "being cut off for a few days" type situation then I'd find some way to muddle through until services were restored.

If it was more of an "end of civilisation as we know it" though, then I'd like to think that I'd not be wasting resources on the futile exerscise of keeping me alive. Really wouldn't be worth the effort, unless I happend to be the only person left that knew how to start a fire, catch some wild animal that we could eat or some other usefull skill. Otherwise I'm just an unnessecary drain on eveyone else.

 

[SteveJT]

Well if that was right thinking we may as well ALL kill ourselves off, but visionary medical men discovered insulin, and Im convinced with some effort we can also achieve reults. Please look at this link.....

http://books.google.com/books?id=-W7ch1d6JOoC&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=Banting+and+Best+tied+off+pancreatic+ducts+in+dogs+so+the+acinar+cells+would+atrophy,+then&source=bl&ots=AzHHe_TF2p&sig=2uSTjIbgRxhkXwnwm1no-zBu8nk&hl=en&ei=pRL5TfKJIZG5tgeljuioCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Banting%20and%20Best%20tied%20off%20pancreatic%20ducts%20in%20dogs%20so%20the%20acinar%20cells%20would%20atrophy%2C%20then&f=false