I have seen posts in many social platforms about parents being expected to ‘train’ or otherwise conduct in school instruction for §504 care of children prescribed Baqsimi, Gvoke, or Glucagon.
Thinking outside the box points to something like CPR training. The CPR training is lecture, video, hands-on the manikin with return demonstration for accuracy, and a written test.
So the parent asks their provider for a training kit for Baqsimi, Gvoke, or Glucagon. All three primary manufacturers limit their trainers to provider offices only and admonish prescribers not to let the trainers out of the office, instead telling doctors and patients to refer to online videos.
Hold it! If a skill as important as CPR has lecture, video, and hands-on, where is the HANDS-ON with the trainers for Baqsimi, Gvoke, or Glucagon? What is the rationale?
As far as the trainers, I am historically aware back to the atropine auto-injector pen trainers in the 1970s for agricultural organophosphate chemical exposure. Every farmer had 6 atropine auto-injector pens & one trainer. Every one from 1st grade up on a farm practiced with the trainers & knew the ‘live rounds’ atropine auto-injectors. The atropine auto-injector trainers were even show & tell in school.
I’ve wondered the same thing sometimes- even when I was in the hospital they didn’t have a trainer kit for us to practice giving glucagon, they just showed a presentation, handed my parents the real thing, and told us “this is what you do!”
I’m a sophomore in high school. My teachers all know that I’m diabetic and if I pass out they are supposed to call the nurse, who will come and give me glucagon. Considering that most of my classes are on the third floor and the nurses office is on the first, I’ve wondered if this is the smartest strategy. Since I take care of my BG myself using my pump and CGM, my teachers and school nurse aren’t that involved with my day-to-day diabetes treatment. I assume it would be different if a child was in elementary/middle school or didn’t have a CGM/pump.
I now have baqsimi glucagon and there’s a training video on YouTube that explains when/where/how to use it. I show it to my friends and make sure that at least one friend in each of my classes knows what glucagon is and how to use it. I remind them every so often what glucagon is and when to use it. I’ve opened up expired baqsimi tubes and tried them out (I sprayed them into the toilet) and I find it very easy and intuitive. Way easier to carry and use than those huge syringe and vial kits of glucagon we were given when I was diagnosed.
One last thing- I find that explaining my pump and CGM and difference between high and low bgs to my teachers is hard enough. Explaining what glucagon is and when to use it sounds like a lot of work. Maybe I’m just lazy…
Your words would be a mountain of encouragement in a Facebook group of parents & others working to make schools safe for individuals as you describe yourself. The group is 504-Diabetes. Please consider looking it up.
Parents need to know what happens in the school halls.