So far, I’ve never had to call an ambulance (or had one called for me) to treat a severe low or high blood sugar situation. (My father drove me to the hospital during a snowstorm during my DKA experience).

But you never know, I may need to someday in the future...and I wanted to know what exactly that ambulance crew is going to be doing when they come to my rescue.

Heidi Durkee is an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), trained firefighter and also regularly teaches CPR courses. As an EMT she is one of the people who would show up at your door if your friends or parents called 911 because your hypoglycemia was too severe to treat with a big glass of juice.

Ginger: So, Heidi, if you show up to help someone and you know they have diabetes, what’s going to happen?

HEIDI: First, it depends on whether or not they’re conscious and able to talk. Even though their diabetes is the major issue, I’m first going to check their airway (to make sure they are breathing) and their vitals (blood pressure, etc.). If they aren’t breathing well, I’ll have to take care of that by putting a tube down their throat or nose.

Ginger: Eeeesh. Okay…so once that’s all squared away, how do you treat the blood sugar issue?

HEIDI: We’d of course do a finger stick to see just how close to either going unconscious or if they’re so low they might start seizing. If the person is conscious, I’d treat their blood sugar first probably with a tube of glucose gel. If they’re on the verge of possibly having a seizure or lose consciousness, then I would start an IV to push D-50.

Ginger: What’s D-50?

HEIDI: Basically it’s a major dose of glucose. It’s amazing how quickly D-50 works. Within thirty seconds, literally, the person is back and awake and alert. They don’t usually know what’s going on, but they sometimes remember that they were having a low blood sugar.

Ginger: What if they were having a seizure?

HEIDI: If they’re seizing when we arrive, we can’t do anything about their airway because they would be dangerous to put a tube in your throat during a seizure. So, we’d immediately do an IV to push D-50 and call the hospital to get any further medical directions from the doctor on duty.

Ginger: Then do you take them to the hospital?

HEIDI: If you aren’t having a seizure and you’re awake, we still definitely recommend it. If you’re seizing and unconscious, you’re absolutely going to the hospital. If you’re conscious and recovered, and you don’t want to go to the hospital, you have to sign a waiver that basically means we aren’t responsible if something happens after we’ve left.

Ginger: Do you have to help with hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) as often as hypoglycemia?

HEIDI: No, but I’ve seen some people whose blood sugars were so high they were really out of sorts and confused. It would be really dangerous for them to drive themselves to the hospital.