Yeah... so I needed to explain one of my comments to the NSG. Here is an explanation of why I think more people need to learn what to do in a diabetic emergency.A diabetic man collapsed at an outdoor event last Tuesday evening. The man's friend refused to allow the rest of us helping to give him any of the fruit products being passed around the event. The friend's argument was that the diabetic needed glucose, from crackers or something, instead of the fructose in fruit. The friend wouldn't listen to my explanation that fruit juice is often used to treat insulin shock (hypoglycemia).
Five of us spent about an hour in increasing darkness trying to (1) keep the diabetic conscious and (2) bring his sugar level to a healthy number. The diabetic didn't want us to take him to a hospital, but as he wasn't lucid, we deferred to the friend. The friend also insisted that we not take the diabetic to the hospital.
The whole incident was a mess. The friend missed the bottle of glucose pills and the car keys in the diabetic's gear bag. Fortunately, I found those when the friend ran off to break into the diabetic's truck. (At least he knew which truck to break into; none of the rest of us did.) Still, it wasted time.
The odd person would stick his head into the action to ask what we were doing and then walk away when he realized it wasn't anything fun.
None of us had a flashlight. We used the intermittent glow of cellphones and, eventually, a dim streetlight to see the sugar meter, which no one knew how to use. The diabetic was dehydrated--so his blood didn't want to leave the body--and after I managed to locate a container of water, the others gave the diabetic only a sip before setting the water aside.
When the diabetic was better, the friend promised that he would learn how to use every one of the diabetic's sugar meters before retiring for the night. He then drove the diabetic home.
I get sick when my blood sugar level is low. I've also seen a diabetic suffer from hypoglycemia before. I can't begin to explain how annoyed I am that the first thing we did wasn't give the fighter some sugar. Sugar. Not crackers, which took several minutes to find, anyway.
If we hadn't taken care of him, the diabetic could have suffered permanent damage... I'm assuming he's fine, though I haven't seen him since he rode away. His condition would never have reached death, because if he'd passed out, his friend would have lost the right to make decisions, in my mind. I would have shoved peach preserves in the diabetic's mouth while calling 911.