Hurricane Preparedness for Persons with Diabetes

Written by: Freddi Mehlhorn, 2019 Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) Georgia Campus School of Pharmacy; Mandy Reece, PharmD, CDE

As we dive into what is already shaping up to be another interesting hurricane season, it is important for persons with diabetes (especially those who live in coastal areas) to be prepared in case the need to evacuate arises. It is also important to be prepared in case you are not able to evacuate but are without access to stores or even power. Below you will find a list of helpful tips and ideas to ensure that you stay medically safe and healthy in the event of a natural disaster.

REFILLS, REFILLS, REFILLS!! This point cannot be stressed enough! Whether you are staying home or are planning to evacuate, it is very important to start working on making sure you have enough medications as soon as possible. A safe recommendation would be to make sure you have at least 2 weeks work of medications before the storm is scheduled to make landfall. (This same tip applies to testing and insulin supplies as well!)
• Stock up on snacks/drinks/glucose tablets for cases of hypoglycemia. Try to aim for things that are non-perishable (juice boxes, small cans of regular soda, hard candies, etc.)
• Regular non-perishable food and snacks are important to have as well. Try to find a good mixture of carbohydrates and protein (nuts are a great option for non-perishable protein). Maintaining as close to a regular eating schedule during this time will be important for stabilizing your blood sugar.
• A small cooler and ice packs are great to have for storing any unopened insulin pens or vials that you may already have or will plan to get from the pharmacy before the storm hits. This will help avoid wasting insulin
• While this is very important during all times of the year, it is especially important during times of uncertainty to always have an active medication list with you
Establish contact with any family members/friends/loved ones that are outside of the path of the storm well before the storm makes landfall

Additional resources:
https://www.facebook.com/DiabetesDisasterResponse/

https://www.healthcareready.org/rxopen

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#hurricane #preparedness #diabetes #medications

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Daily Piece: Support for College Students

Do you know a college student who has diabetes? Did you know that there is an organization devoted to college students who have diabetes? This great organization is College Diabetes Network.  Please share with friends and family who know or have kids in college who have diabetes.  College is a time of great vulnerability and potential.  Learn more about College Diabetes Network https://collegediabetesnetwork.org/

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#diabetes #college #students #support

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Daily Piece: Staying Current

Amid all of my responsibilities as a diabetes educator, coach and supporter for those living with diabetes, I at times struggle to slow down enough to test my knowledge gained a few years back with current science and practice guidelines.  A couple of ways that I filter through my knowledge is to test it against the annual ADA standards of medical care in diabetes (other current practice guidelines) as well as discussing with colleagues from non-pharmacy professions to get their perspective and insight.  Recently while waiting to teach in a diabetes course for healthcare professionals preparing for CDE exam, I listened on a great discussion on dietary cholesterol and eating eggs.  I walked away with food for thought and a few cobwebs cleaned out of some outdated knowledge that I held. Bottom line reading current guidelines, having discussions with colleagues and always seeking to learn from others are vital keys to staying current.

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#diabetes #knowledge #staying #current

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Daily Piece: A Challenge

I challenge my fellow healthcare professionals and students studying to become a healthcare professional to live as a person with diabetes for three days.  During these three days, check your blood sugar twice daily, inject five units of normal saline each evening, complete 30 minutes of physical activity each day and keep a food journal.  I actually have pharmacy students in my diabetes elective course at PCOM – Georgia Campus School of Pharmacy complete these activities for three days.  They find it eye opening and can better empathize with persons living with diabetes at the end of three days. How will you feel at the end of three days?

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#diabetes #challenge

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Daily Piece: Do Not Leave Home Without….

Do not leave home without your medication list.  It is vital to always carry a list of your medications (including prescription, nonprescription and nutritional supplements) with you at all times. Your list can be electronic (in your phone) or hand written list.  Be prepared!

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#diabetes #med #list #safety

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Daily Piece

Where does time go! It is already September which means it is time to get your annual flu (influenza) vaccination.  It is one of five recommended vaccines for persons with diabetes. The additional recommended vaccines are Tdap, zoster, pneumococcal and hepatitis B.   Check out the link below to the CDC vaccines page for more details.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/adult-conditions.html

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#diabetes #vaccines #September

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Preparing for Hurricane Gordon

Below are some important preparation tips for people with diabetes who may be impacted by Hurricane Gordon.

  • PEOPLE WITH DIABETES AND LOVED ONES:

1-800-DIABETES will be open all day tomorrow and this week to support people with diabetes and their loved ones.

Set up communications with family or loved ones outside the emergency area BEFORE the storm arrives. Keep in mind that text messaging may be an alternative to share status reports.

  • https://www.healthcareready.org/rxopen is the free service that offers locations of open pharmacies in the areas affected by a disaster.  This site will also track any “pop-up” or mobile pharmacies (e.g., Walmart, CVS) that may be available on the ground after a disaster.
  • If a state of Emergency is declared in your state, patients should check with their current pharmacies to see if they can obtain an emergency override, allowing them to get more medication than is typically prescribed during a time period.

Daily Piece

While medications are a wonderful resource for people, caution must be exercised regarding serious potential adverse effects.  Fluoroquinolones, class of antibiotics, have risk of causing serious low blood sugar. Please click on the link below for more details.

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#diabetes #medication #safety #risk #hypoglycemia

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Daily Piece

Happy Labor Day!  I hope that each of you has an enjoyable Labor Day.  Thank you to each of you who are working hard today on this holiday.  A little reading for the day…actually this reading has an exciting update on the work of Beta Bionics and Bigfoot.  Thank you diaTribe for always providing excellent updates and latest news in diabetes. If you do not subscribe to diaTribe, please do as they do an amazing job keeping followers up to date  with all things diabetes as well as providing excellent peer support. Please click on the link below.

https://diatribe.org/whats-coming-beta-bionics-and-bigfoot-exciting-next-gen-automated-insulin-delivery?utm_source=diaTribe&utm_campaign=730399a63c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_m176_T2D&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_22467a8528-730399a63c-152660205

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#diabetes #technology #update

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Daily Piece

While diabetes medications are safe overall, it is important to note when new warnings are released about specific classes of diabetes medications.  The FDA has released a warning of rare occurrences of serious infection genital area for the SGLT2 inhibitor drug class. Please click below for more details.

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm617360.htm

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#diabetes #medication #warning #FDA

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