Morning Troops I have put together a Care Plan for an employee who through consultation has indicated that if symptoms of High Blood sugar levels manifest there may be an instance , (if first immediate action - fresh air and brisk walking do not reduce symptoms) then medication may be required injecting (with injection pen variant) Calling on members here to offer guidance or there experience with similar in there place of employment I have requested some kind of written confirmation through employees GP that he would be happy / agree from a duty of care approach that injections are agreed course of action. Secondly although this employee has never experienced a diabetic incident of High blood sugar where does the employer stand legally as employee has indicated that IF the Immediate actions are not carried out correctly then there could be a chance of said employee going into Diabetic comma. Finally I seem to remember a change in legislation regarding First Aiders offering first aid, as in they can not be held culpable for administering first aid. Naturally I am only at first stage of this and once care plan is finalised it will then be briefed to all first aiders. I am expecting some resistance here as well as first aiders may refuse to carry out the injection if the need ever arose. thanks in advance who offer advice.

It is low blood sugar you need to be concerned about, as the individual can very quickly loose consciousness and be unable to help themselves, as Jane put above. It takes a lot longer for high blood sugar levels to cause an individual to loose consciousness, where a first aider would be needed. But even then, a first aider would not give injections. In a hyperglycaemic episode the individual will be able to help themselves through fasting & exercise.

THANK YOU FOR RESPONESE TEAM (CAPS TO HIGHLIGHT GRATITUDE) Thanks also to IOSH for setting this forum up . . .I could have been in a world of pain as well as said employee Worrying thing is this care plan was drawn up through consultation with employee .. . . Thanks again guys

It is right that first aiders are covered by 'angel of mercy' in the law, however I wouldn't be advising First Aiders to inject anything...despite training..I have attended one FA who lost his thumb because he got the pen the wrong way round! That said I have also trained some more advanced first aiders to put a cannula in so we have IV access before we get on scene in certain cases.. The company however is taking on a very large chunk of liability...what we do is covered by our medical director. Your emergency treatment (For Hypo) should concentrate on non-invasive techniques (Glucose solutions), good diagnosis (BM)(For both Hypo & Hyper) and giving the emergency services a good handover. I don't know the region you work in but unless you are in Wales or Scotland (and some remote regions of England) the response times are fair (so long as there isn't a strike!) so I wouldn't be that worried about... As JB says Hypo is life threatening, Hyper is not that time dependant...so long as there are not any complications... In most cases the PT knows and manages it accordingly. I would be putting more emphasis on PT own control, the signs and symptoms prior for those working with and around the person. Hope this helps...if you need more detail then please let me know...I have completed OH risk assessments which take into account response times...

I was trained to help someone with a pen for example prepare it for them but I was not to administer. Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable in doing so. Most of those at work who are diabetic are relatively good at self monitoring and telling us there's a problem, but are always prepped for unforeseen episodes