How To Assist A Person Who Is Having A Low Blood Sugar Reaction
How do you assist a person who is having low blood sugar reaction?
When someone is having a low blood sugar reaction, there are basically two phases; one in which they're conscious and can eat or drink something and the second in which they become unconscious. If you're with someone who's having a blood sugar reaction and they can still swallow, giving them some juice, for instance, is a very good thing. People have been known to take sugar cubes and to crush them up in water, but you're basically just trying to give them sugar water, so fruit juice, Coke (not Diet Coke) or any of the kinds of sodas that are sugary. Sugary fluids are a good idea. The problem is that once somebody loses consciousness, they can't swallow, and there may be a point in which they're losing consciousness and they'll fight you. You don't actually want to get in the way of somebody who's got a low blood sugar and who's fighting you. Once they've lost consciousness from a low blood sugar reaction, if you have Glucagon, which is an injection, you can give them an injection of Glucagon and they'll wake up. Or, you'll have to call 911 so that paramedics or someone can come, give them glucose, and wake them up. Now, there are some other things that you can do. Sometimes people have been known to be helped if somebody has cake icing, which is a very concentrated form of glucose, or has real maple syrup. I met somebody in Greece who just rubbed honey on the gums of the person having a low blood sugar reaction and they woke up from the sugar being absorbed through the gums, but you've got to be careful doing that because you don't want the person to bite you, so that's a risk. You don't want to pour water down their mouth because they'll aspirate it; they'll swallow it and get it down into their lungs. So, if they can't swallow it themselves, you really need to either know what you're doing or call someone to come help.
