Emergency – DiabetesDad

Are you ready???? Share your best tips also.

Posted on February 8, 2013 | by tomkarlya | 1 Comment

Those of us in the Northeast are buckling down for the incoming major storm. Again. This time; snow. We will cope. We are ready.

Are you?

I was speaking to someone recently and the discussion for ‘preparedness’ came up and I cannot stress that ‘back-up’ plans are okay but back-up for the back-up will make you feel safer. It is not just the back up supplies you need to grab but do you have back up in the car as well?

If glucagon is needed; is it within arm’s length or do you have to run two flights of stairs to get it?

If you have more than one car, are both cars supplied and ready…just in case.

You can never have too many levels of back up—-when you hear a storm is coming, check everything. Check it twice, have your children check, make them participate so they can learn.

Be ready.

One storm is bad enough, being unprepared in the diabetes world can only make a bad storm, the perfect storm. Stay safe

What tips can you provide, please share?

I am a diabetes dad.

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Emergency at 43,000 Feet.

Posted on November 28, 2012 | by tomkarlya | 2 Comments

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking…….”

The tone in his voice sounded different from when these normal-type announcement comes from the cockpit. Up until this point we were on a non-stop from the UK to NYC’s Kennedy Airport on an uneventfully calm flight. This was about to change.

The Captain continued, “We need to know if there are any medical personnel aboard, if so, please hit your flight attendant bell.”

Ding. Ding. Ding, Ding. Well at least that was a good sign. Four people rushed forward. Much activity as we were asked to hold our seats. And after 15 minutes of activity the Captain returned.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain again; we know this is a nonstop flight but I have just requested for an emergency landing in Halifax Nova Scotia for a medical emergency.” An obvious heart attack. I was sure. We landed, EMS came aboard and the patient was removed.

As I left the plane when we landed in New York, the flight attendant noticed my Children with Diabetes shirt I was wearing; “If I knew that I might have called upon you.”

“Excuse me?”

Our medical emergency was someone with diabetes who left what she needed in case of an emergency ‘low’ (she was quoting the person who was traveling with the person needing aid) in her suit case.”

“You mean glucagon? You probably should have made an announcement; we have one with us that we gladly would have given the medical personnel.”

Now there is much wrong with this conversation in my eyes and at the top of the list is what was this woman thinking that she did not have everything she needed with her while traveling? I cannot answer that question and the woman dropped so low that she went into convulsions; hence the emergency landing.

So we learned, as we knew, that NO ONE who has diabetes should not have EVERYTHING they need when on a flight. You would think common sense….no?

The second is a suggestion we might want to use. When traveling with diabetes supplies, you might….notice the word; MIGHT, want to consider letting the flight attendant know that should a diabetes emergency occur while you are flying that you have many supplies with you for whatever the reason (you have diabetes or your child has diabetes).

This may never happen again, but when flying again with one of our kids (when we will have most of what is needed, as much as our kids will have as well…I know they are old enough to have it on their own….it’s a ‘parent thing’….parents know what I mean), I will absolutely make sure the flight attendant knows. I may not agree with ‘how or why’ this emergency happened but once at the emergency stage, it could have been really helpful to know that there was help just 10 rows back. That would be a good thing.

If we all did this every time we travel, perhaps one life might be saved, and then it would all be worth it….don’t you think?

I am a diabetesdad.

My Sunday dHero…..artistic license please…..Heroes in a Hurricane

Posted on October 28, 2012 | by tomkarlya | 1 Comment

The winds are beginning to pick up out side. The rain will start shortly.

It is clear that the picture I provided today is one from long ago. It is how we remember our kids no matter how old they are ( I tell everyone it is Jill’s first husband). I was much younger too.

But with one of the worst storms in recent memory making its way up the coast for a direct slam into Long Island….during the height of the danger….during the height of uncertainty…I know where these two babies will be.

They are much older now—T.J. is 25; a no-nonsense kind of man who is strong when he needs to be and gentle when the time is right. He is in our neighborhood fire department and he has eaten smoke; he has even saved a cat from a tree.

Kaitlyn is 22 and on our volunteer ambulance company serving our community as an EMT. Her knowledge runs deep and her service is exhausting to witness.

Hurricane Sandy surges and my two oldest will be in harm’s way. They will do it willingly, they will do it until they are not needed. People will be running FROM impacted areas; Kaitlyn and TJ will be running TOWARD them. Kaitlyn will be doing it the whole time managing her diabetes. She understands the ramifications of anything but good control at these crucial times…..she does not waver.

They will be with others who also are laying it all on the line for others….all are heroes.

So my Sunday dHero this weekend, if it is okay with all of you, are my two oldest children T.J. and Kaitlyn——God keep them safe over the next few days. I love them to no end. They are not only my Sunday dHeroes—-they are my heroes everyday for doing what so many cannot. If they fear, they show it not–this is about helping others. Godspeed my children and bless you, and those like you, for caring so much during Hurricane Sandy’s wrath.

I am a diabetesdad

Who Needs a Medical Alert I.D. Bracelet? They’ll find it.

Posted on September 19, 2012 | by tomkarlya | 5 Comments

Medical I.D. alert bracelets. What to do with them on kids and do you wear one as an adult? First of all, not to bash any sort of industry but a medical I.D. alert bracelet is not jewelry. It has a purpose. It has a huge purpose. It is, as it states in the name, to alert. Should it ever be needed that a medical team needs to know that there is a medical condition needing attention, the bracelet becomes a lifeline of information.

And yet, I find it amazing that so many do not wear one and I also observe some of these bracelets so ‘pretty’ or so ‘cool’ that one cannot even tell a child is wearing one. Why would anyone take a chance like that?

I get it. No one wants to be branded or ‘stamped’. But if we were in a building, would one not find it odd that the fire extinguishers were so decorated along the walls that you cannot even find them? Of course it would be odd. And yet, sometimes, the chances people take with the child’s welfare astounds me. As my friend Joe Solowijczyk says, “Some things are non-negotiable”. Wearing one of these, so that it can be easily seen, is such a case. Not having one could be too costly.

When an EMS is called, they will assess the situation and treat the patient. They will not fumble all around looking through ‘pretty jewelry’ to make sure it is not a medical alert bracelet. Now some designs are nice but some are so decorative who would know that it is for what it is intended.

Now to be clear, EMS usually will check fairly thoroughly to see what someone is wearing and in some cases (if the patient is alert) they will ask if they are wearing anything. But my point is to make sure that something is clearly identifiable as what it is meant to be……..a medical I.D. alert bracelet.

There are many companies out there that sell them. There was a time, in Canada that there was a program where every school-aged child got one for free; I do not know if it is still in existence. Perhaps we need to look at that possibility….yes?

I’m a Diabetesdad.