Posted By Steve Crookes
Good answers so far, but I would like to add a few points.
1. Most products that a diabetic needs, such
as insulin, glucogen and hypostop keep
for at least 4 weeks at room temperature.
In the case of penfil cartridges, 4 weeks
is ample time to use a supply, be it
actrapid, mixatard, insulatard or any
other variant, though I am a bit vague on
non human insulin.
2. This is personal perscription medicine
and as such should be kept on the
individuals person, not in a fridge at
work, so that in the event of an
accident, the medication will be found on
the person, not locked away somewhere
with no key avaliable.
3. Insulin, apparently, is a very painless
and attractive way to commit suicide, I
know of at least one doctor who was not
diabetic who chose this method to exit
the world. It is also attractive for
other people to try/experiment with and
is therefore,like any other perscription
drug, highly dangerous.
There is no requirement to provide storage for insulin at work. However, hypostop, which is relatively harmless and also quite distusting in taste, and glucogen, which can be fatal if mis-used, could find a place under the control of the first aider. Indeed perhaps the issue is not the storage of insulin at work, but the storage of support medicine and whether those around the worker with diabetes know what to do in the event of a hypoglycenic episode and at what point to administer glucogen?
For further advice, as suggested previously, contact Diabetes UK.
Regards,
Steve Crookes