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Treating diabetics in a disaster: Patients, physicians should preplan

Emergency Management Alert, February 15, 2008

A recent story in the Chicago Tribune about a man literally trapped without his medication during the recent tornadoes called to mind a document prepared by the American Diabetes Association after similar incidents occurred post-Katrina. This statement on emergency and disaster preparedness appeared in the online magazine Diabetes Care in July 2007. 

The gist: The ADA, healthcare facilities, relief organizations, and emergency management teams can offer help but cannot be expected to supply all necessary medication, supplies, and direct patient medical care for diabetics during a disaster. The best solution is preplanning, preferably between doctor and patient.

When a crisis hits, diabetics and others with chronic illnesses are suddenly without their avenues of treatment, in part because:

 Physicians' offices and pharmacies may close
 Healthcare workers, displaced, injured, or suffering their own losses, may not report to work
 Hospitals themselves may become inaccessible or dysfunctional

Which is just what happened after the hurricane. Click here to find out what the ADA team learned from that experience. Look for the link to the PDF in the gray box to the left of the screen.

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