Managing diabetes when disaster strikes
Hurricanes Irene and Katrina, terrorist attacks like 911, earthquakes and other disasters make us contemplate preparing for emergencies. What items would you pack to keep yourself out of harm’s way? In the event of a sudden emergency, what items would you take? Even if there is a fire in your house and you have a quick moment to grab one thing, what would it be?
If you wait to answer these questions when you need to, you are likely not taking the right things and regretting that you did not think of these questions before the need and not the need. For people with diabetes, organ transplants or other chronic conditions, the question is critical and the first item is a certain drug, items 2 to 10 may vary.
On September 11, 2001, a good friend of mine was traveling from the Midwest to the West Coast. He called from his layover in Minneapolis to tell me that the FAA was considering grounding all the planes. He had recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. So as I listened to him complain about airport hotels and poor restaurant choices, my Type 1 brain immediately began to calculate what he would need. What I was concerned about was that since I had homes in both places, I was probably not on my medication for several days. I interrupted his complaints and asked, “How much medication do you have?” He replied, “Oh, I don’t know.” I asked him to take it out and count how many days of medicine he had. I listened as he opened the pill bottles and counted, and was comfortable that he had at least a couple weeks of medication. The funny thing is that while he was counting the pills, I was thinking about the next steps if I didn’t have enough medication. Time was critical because you would have to call your pharmacist (during business hours in another time zone) to transfer your prescriptions to a local pharmacy to fill.
Here’s a quick list of items to consider:
Quick evacuation
- Medicine
- Medicine
- Medicine
- Critical / Portable Equipment
Hours to evacuate or move to a limited space in the home
- Everything from quick evacuation plus
- Medical supplies such as glucose tablets, glucometer, and supplies
- Durable medical equipment (dialysis supplies, heart monitors, etc., respirators)
- Phone numbers of doctors and pharmacies
- CASH
- Water
- Nonperishable food
- Flashlight
- Radio with batteries
Some of these items can be stored in one place, so only a few will need to be gathered in an emergency. Nobody wants to imagine such a disaster, but it is better to be prepared and not need it, than to need it and not be prepared.