As the U.S. Eastern seaboard braces for Hurricane Florence, a category 4 hurricane that could potentially impact several states including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia between Thursday and Friday, the diabetes community is rallying to make sure that people living with diabetes—especially those who depend upon insulin—are fully supported.
The Diabetes Disaster Response Coalition (DDRC), which is comprised of the Endocrine Society and other leading diabetes organizations, is urging all people with diabetes and their loved ones to prepare for Hurricane Florence by putting together a diabetes kit and making a plan to stay healthy and safe during the storm and in its aftermath.
The DDRC has created a Patient Preparedness Plan to help people with diabetes face the unique challenges of effectively managing their diabetes during times of disaster. Major storms may knock out electricity for hours, days, or longer, making it difficult to refrigerate or store life-saving insulin. Medication and diabetes supplies may be lost, damaged, or run out, and drinking water and healthy food may be difficult to find. The coalition’s goal is to ensure the people with diabetes have access to healthcare, information and supplies.
DDRC’s Patient Preparedness Plan also includes a checklist of supplies, information and guidelines to best prepare a person with diabetes in the case of an emergency or natural disaster and can downloaded from endocrine.org/DisasterResponse. Click here to download the Patient Preparedness Plan.
During an emergency, it is critical for people with diabetes to have access to the medications and testing supplies needed to maintain blood glucose control, and to prevent serious sudden complications such as hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. People living with diabetes should download the Patient Preparedness Plan and gather their important diabetes resources.
People with diabetes and healthcare providers can call two phone lines for assistance:
- 1-800-DIABETES for individuals with diabetes care needs. ADA’s Center for Information, 1-800-DIABETES, is open from 9:00 a.m. ET to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday; and
- 1-314-INSULIN for physicians and healthcare providers to get connected to diabetes supplies.
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