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Hello, would like people's experiences please.

Heidi*

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, I'm new to the forum but not new to Diabetes, I am the mother of a daughter with type 1, diagnosed nearly 10 years ago when she was 9. I'm looking for people's experiences within the workplace or educational institutions regarding the understanding of Diabetes & how to treat a hypo. The reason being that we seem to be experiencing more and more a lack of knowledge on the condition as my daughter goes into different environments. Few examples: the primary school when she was first diagnosed were scared and I was constantly called out of work to school to treat her when her blood sugar dropped, being new to the world of diabetes and it being the schools first case I didnt think anything of it. Senior school also didn't really understand the condition or what to do. In the past year one workplace she worked in said 'so if you have a hypo do we just give you sugar?' Last week in university a fellow type 1 Diabetic student was having a fit and my daughter was fetched from her class and asked what they should do, she said call an ambulance, the staff were saying we need to hold her to stop her & don't we need to give her food? To which my daughter said no, don't touch her and you don't know if she's fitting because she's high or low and she will choke if you give her any food, she was fitting quite badly on the floor so think they were concerned she'd hurt herself. So if anyone has any similar experiences could you please share, I'm thinking if this isn't exclusive to us then some kind of initiative to help raise awareness on this could be a good thing and will look into it, unless anyone knows of one in existence already. As far as I'm aware it isn't covered in any first aid training either. I know that diabetes is so very complicated and everyone is different in their requirements but feel some knowledge of the basics is better then none. Thank You for taking the time to read my thread.
 
I'm not sure when I learnt what to do if someone was having a hypo or a seizure but it was probably in a first aid class. I know that when someone is having a seizure all you should do is remove obstacles they could hurt themselves on, then when it stops, put them in the recovery position and check they are breathing etc. Obviously getting someone to call for help is crucial. I also learned to check for a medic alert bracelet or necklace, so if I did that and saw T1 diabetic, I think I would know what to do.

I don't know what we can do to raise awareness except encourage people to go on first aid courses. One thing you learn on those courses is that when you call 999 they tell you what to do. And T1s/insulin users can brief those around them such as workmates and friends ahead of time.
 
I have done the first aid course for football not diabetes, but it is usually the same as the post above, remove objects, call for help, and help recovery for anyone having a seizure or fit.
Don't let them eat or drink, paramedics or the person themselves will inform you if they can, always look for medical, bracelets or necklace and information in purse, wallet, bag, there could be someone with them who knows the patient, always ask but don't in any circumstances do something you are not sure of!
 
Thanks for the comments, I know what to do myself in the event of someone having a seizure, what I was really looking for was if anyone had had any experience with lack of knowledge on diabetes in the workplace or any organisation, I was using the seizure episode as an example as the first aid trained staff on site called upon my daughter being a fellow diabetic to know what to do. Whenever my daughter informs people of her condition so they are aware it's always met with no real understanding so was wondering if it was just us who experience this or if it's a problem for others too.
 
The lack of knowledge in all the blood glucose conditions (which there are many) is frightening in the health care system.
 
I think its down more to the diabetic individual to discuss this with an Employer.

I always discussed and never got awful stupidity from my work colleagues because I had told them exactly what to do, what the symptoms were etc.

They also knew my instructions as I had them written down and given to them.. Signed and dated. I've always been odd... Will never accept even if I've been off my trolley to go willingly to hospital, or for my (now) hubby to be called etc. They always knew this. They knew how to test me and what I liked for hypo treats....never had an ambulance called in 20+ years of working whilst T1 for an employer.. 10 years self employment now and working byself.. So that makes you more reliant upon looking after yourself in a sort of sense...
 
I think there's a general lack of understanding, personally though I've put hypo stop and the sugar injection in our staff fridge and explained what it's for. I've never been so low at work that I've needed help luckily, school wise though, I'm a primary teacher and it's quite surprising how little some people know about the health of the pupils (those with certain medical conditions). By law now though, each child with any condition shoukd have a medical plan that all staff members or those working closely with said child, are aware of. I would give the school a dummies guide to t1 diabetes, just to make sure they've got it. You can explain when a call is needed and how to treat a hypo without having to get you out of work, it's their care of duty and if they don't understand by law they need to! Appalling that they didn't know give to deal with a first aid issue w/o your daughter! Must be very frustrating for you!
 
Every diabetic using insulin should buy themselves a bottle of Hypostop (Glucogel) in a bottle with the long thin twist up nozzle. Although not nice to swallow, when someone is beyond being able to help themselves due to hypo, then slowly and carefully massaging thin beads of the gel into the inside of the lips or ideally the cheek lining, the gel will do its magic within 10mins and enables someone to be ok enough to swallow some lucozade or sugary fruit juice followed by a biscuit if necessary depending on what the bg level is. Google bucal lining of the mouth and Hypostop. As a last resort, Glucagon injection re stores normality but its expensive and many GPs dont like prescribing it and would like to refer to hospital consultant etc

My moto is.........better to have Glucogel and never need it than need it but dont have any to use. It can be bought online or at a pharmacy with no questions asked. I always keep a tube of it in my bag just in case I run out of jellybabies or I see someone else go low.
 
I appreciate all the advice on the treatment of hypos and informing colleagues of what to do etc, I do know all of this and it is what we have always done, given full details to all schools she's ever attended & every new workplace, must be just my daughter that experiences these things then, she is an anomaly!!
 
Agree with the glucogel.. All on prescription and should be first port of call to massage in to gums...
 
I'm sure it happens a lot, that people don't know what to do, and when it's explained to them, they don't really understand it. The problem might even be getting worse as good basic school education is increasingly being replaced with screen time.
 
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