I have a child that will be going into middle school in the fall. He has type 1 diabetes and sometimes goes low when he has unplanned exercise at school. His nurse has always treated him. In middle school he will just have a part time nurse. He will have 9 teachers in a day. He is normally fine, but he has gotten low and couldn’t treat himself. He has gotten down to 27 at school. Do you have any advice for handling the situation? I would like to add that the school’s position is that he is old enough that he should be able to control his diabetes.

Your problem is an extremely familiar one, especially in the UK, where there is no support at school for children with medical problems. I suggest that you visit the school and speak to the head teacher or whoever will have overall responsibility for your son’s year. Ensure that there is an emergency kit readily accessible and known to all members of staff. In addition all the teachers should know he has diabetes and what the signs/management of a hypo entail. Your son’s school will, I am confident, have a way of disseminating such information about pupils.

KJR
Additional comments from Dr. Quick:

Also, be sure to look at the information at Diabetes Management at School and bring along printouts of some of the pages to show the school’s staff.

WWQ