Diabetics, and clients who claim to be diabetic, have remarkably different glucose levels than most folks. And while there is a lot of discussion in the pre-hospital crowd about treatment levels, I think we can all agree that an asymptomatic 50 and a symptomatic 130 are treated completely different, despite that magic treatment number, mine being So what to do when the asymptomatic refuses to listen to reason?
THE EMERGENCY
A woman is reporting a “diabetic reaction”
THE ACTION
Not sure what that could mean exactly, we light t up and catch a private ambulance responding with us at an intersection not far away. I call it catching because they just fall in behind us as if on a hook.
In the lobby of the reported address sits our client and a security guard intent on getting my badge number before I make contact. Someone needs to tell these folks that that information is not necessary for her report.
The client is sitting calmly in a chair off to the side and blushes as I approach, large bag and monitor pushing the security guard gently aside as our driver for the day takes her aside to explain things. She is in no distress, no chief complaint, no obvious trauma, so I shift gears and go into my script.
“Did you report a medical emergency?”
She hands me her fancy glucose monitor. I can only assume she wants me to read the number.
50.
Nothing earth shattering, just a run of the mill 50. No symptoms, no problems to report, just a value on a tiny computer screen.
The ambulance crew went into their questioning and I chimed in when I could, but she demanded to be transported to the hospital for her “diabetic reaction.”
The best part of this run was the man on the way out who identified himself as a life long diabetic told us he is often below 50 and just eats a turkey sandwich. I told him we were hiring.
Also on The Happy Medic…
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