Managing Type 1 (insulin-dependant) diabetes at school can be very tricky.
The job of a people with diabetes (PWD) is to keep their blood glucose level (BGL) in a strict range (72-180mg/dl, or 4-10mmol/l). Insulin makes the BGL go down; but too low and they quickly become vague and eventually unconscious. Sugar and carbohydrates make the BGL go up; but too high too often leads to kidney and eye damage and blindness. It is extremely tricky for an adult get this balance right, both in counting carbs exactly, and getting the timing right, especially as exercise also makes BGL go down, and stress, hormones, sickness make the BGL go up. It requires constant vigilance all day, every day, without let-up, year after year, for the rest of their life.
Even more tricky, is that once insulin is injected (by syringe, pen or pump), it takes 30 minutes to start working, and then stays active for 3-4 hours. That means that a child's breakfast insulin will often still be active at 'fruit snack' time, so if fruit snack is delayed by an impromptu assembly, the child's BGL will get low. If sport is skipped in the first few weeks of term while the timetable is being refined, the child's BGL will be high.
So a child must balance this time-sensitive regime of blood testing, insulin and carbohydrates with a school program that can vary considerably, with impromptu assemblies 'bumping' normal activities, special programs, excursions and incursions, exercise, absent teachers, fill-in or specialist teachers, after school activities like tennis or football or hockey, cake from school birthdays and more.
The child's home room teacher also must handover the child's current status to each specialist teacher such as music, sport, creative movement, art, and then back again at the end of the activity.
JadeDiabetes.com allows every teacher and carer to see what the child's BGL is, and whether it is heading up (e.g. after a snack or meal before insulin starts to really work) or down (e.g. 40 minutes after a meal), and if a low is predicted, and when to test for it, and exactly what corrective action to take. The teacher can get this information on their PC or Mac, their iPhone or Smart Phone.
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