June 26, 2002
Community Resources
Question from Washington, USA:
I am in college right now, and am getting a nursing degree so I can become and diabetes educator. I also do product demonstrations in my spare time at local diabetes clinics and hospitals, and I have had a lot of trouble obtaining discontinued meters for the demonstrations. The companies don’t have them anymore, and neither do the hospitals I volunteer at. I want to show people how the designs have changed and why certain ones are not available anymore. Do you know of anywhere that gives away old, discontinued meters for educational purposes?
Answer:
We have lots of old meters in our office so I am sure if you talk to your own diabetes doctor/nurse, you may find some meters for our demonstrations. Perhaps you could merely write a letter to 15 or 20 of the neighboring doctors and see if they have some old supplies as well. If you are ever in Boston area, we would gladly provide some for you to use.
SB
[Editor’s comment: I don’t understand the need to demonstrate the older meters, unless you are giving a history lesson in the development of blood glucose monitoring. It would seem to be time that could be better-used in showing people the features of currently available meters that would allow for appropriate decision-making. I also suspect that showing people discontinued meters would be very confusing; the multitude of available meters makes choosing one confusing enough!
SS]