Treating an urgent low when you are unconscious
If we go so low that we are unconscious, someone is going to call 911 to revive us. There is, however, a fast way to revive us, which is a commercial injector of Glucagon. I carry one with me at all times, and leave one at the nurse’s station. Glucagon can save us if we are far gone.
Someone, hopefully trained, must
- Flip off the seal of the Glucagon powder vial
- Remove the needle cover from the injector
- Insert the needle into the vial, sand inject all the liquid in the needle into the vial
- Remove the needle from the vial and shake the vial several times until the liquid is clear
- Insert the needle again into the vial and slowly suck out all the liquid
- Cleanse an injection site on my buttock, my thigh or my arm, and inject all the glucagon, right after mixing it.
- Apply light pressure on the injection site.
But, you don’t need to memorize these steps! Download the Glucagon app by Eli Lilly and Company on your smartphone. The app will help you review the steps (with photos) if you ever forget it, and if it happens that you do ever get a low so bad you go unconscious, someone can review the steps on the app, before they inject you. It’s worth taking the time to check to make sure they do it right.
In middle school, all my teachers knew about my Glucagon, and several school staff were trained. In high school, it has not been so easy to make sure people can take care of me if I pass out, so Glucagon is a last resort! Since I’ve been diagnosed, I’ve never had to use it, but I still carry it with me.
Growing up T1D 