Refresh your "Go kit"

[Eric]

If you have not done this in a while, it might be a good time to refresh all the stuff in your emergency kit. I did that today. It’s nice to have a small pack of everything you might need in an emergency, rather than having to hunt for it. I put all new stuff in here today, since the pods and sensor were about to expire.

When I originally made it, I posted about this on this thread. This thread has a link to the pack I used to put it all in. It is still available on Amazon for about $13.
forum.fudiabetes.org/t/emergency-go-kit/

Here are some more pics.

This kit contains…

• 30 syringes
• 1 Dexcom sensor
• 3 OmniPods
• 1 vial each of of NovoLog and Levemir
• 1 Humalog pen and cartridge
• 1 Contour Next One meter, 125 test strips, and new batteries
• 10 pen needles, lancets, and alcohol swabs
• Tegaderm
• 4 packs of Transcend gel and 1 canister of gtabs

[Jan]

What kind of emergency is this designed for?

[daisymae]

But no Glucagon Kit? I am guessing that is why you packed so many Transcends.

Also, do you keep this refrigerated?

[daisymae]

I am going on Amazon right after dinner and buying one of these for myself. what would I type in that I am searching for? what is this emergency container called?

[Jen]

@daisymae, I have a similar kit to @Eric’s that I keep in my backpack. (I live in an earthquake zone and am paranoid that an earthquake could happen while I’m in some random location like on the bus.) I keep three penfills of Fiasp in it and one penfill of Levemir (that’s about 1,200 units). The nice thing about the penfills is that they’re only 300 units and I rotate them out of the emergency kit, so I’m always replacing them with fresh insulin and they are never out of the fridge for more than a month, except for the Levemir (since I’m on a pump).

I also have a full-fledged earthquake kit with food and water and emergency supplies, and I keep a much more extensive stash of medical supplies in it (about a month of supplies). However, that kit is in a large 50 L travel backpack, and it’s ridiculously heavy (for me). I’m certain I would not be able to carry it down nine flights of stairs and through streets full of rubble without it tipping me off-balance. So I really need to go through it and reduce the weight by quite a bit.

[Eric]

@daisymae

I am going on Amazon right after dinner and buying one of these for myself. what would I type in that I am searching for?

DM, it is not a D kit, you have to just cut holes in it for things like the insulin bottles. But if you are handy with a knife and scissors, you can make it all fit in there.

I can send you some close-ups of the cuts I made to fit stuff into it.

Here is the Amazon link.

Amazon.com: LTGEM EVA Hard Case for HealthmateForever YK15AB TENS Unit...

[Eric]

@Jan

What kind of emergency

Basically, if I have to leave the house quickly for an extended time for anything. Like for any emergency thing. It has pretty much all I need. I don’t need to pack up stuff…

@daisymae

Also, do you keep this refrigerated?

No. There really is no need to keep insulin refrigerated.

[daisymae]

Thanks Eric, just wrote down all the info and am ordering it in a moment. there is only one left; I hope that I get it.

PS: just ordered it. got the last one available. guess it is a popular item…especially these days. once it arrives, I will definitely need your help making the holes, etc to make it its most useful. it should be here on or before next week.

[Sam]

My SHTF kit is slightly different

[TravelingOn]

Do tell…

[daisymae]

@Eric

There really is no need to keep insulin refrigerated.

why are we all being scammed? why do they bother putting expiration dates on insulin either? is this a marketing ploy?

[BERNIE]

For how long did you keep insulin out of the fridge and was still good? By ‘good’ I mean you did not see a need to increase you regular dosage. And about what room temperature are we talking about? Thank you!

[Chris]

Insulin is tough stuff.
4 years past expiration, last year at room temperature:

The great unrefrigerated (& expired) insulin demo

The long-time Unlimiteds have already seen this kind of stuff. But for newer members, I wanted to share it with a new demo. I am calling this a “demo” instead of an “experiment”, because really by now, there is no more experimenting. I know what is going to happen, I am just trying to show it. Perhaps you recall this one from last year: car-baked-insulin-an-experiment-for-irish That was a fun thread! And it was a little bit different, it was in a hot car in the summer for 4 days. But since …

Car Baked in Georgia in June:

"Car baked" insulin. An experiment for Irish

Recently several members have posted about keeping their insulin cold. forum.fudiabetes.org/t/overnight-camping-what-to-do-with-backup-insulin forum.fudiabetes.org/t/perfect-refrigerator-for-insulin-storage I think this is largely an unneeded burden on diabetics, and a lot of unnecessary overhead. Storing insulin in your fridge is fine, but it shouldn’t cause anyone any concerns. I kept insulin UNrefrigerated for months at a time when in college. And even after college I kept it in a “wallet”…

[Eric]

@BERNIE

For how long did you keep insulin out of the fridge and was still good?

Yes, as @Chris has linked, I have used unrefrigerated insulin forever. It works fine.

All throughout college, my insulin never saw the inside of a fridge. I never have noticed any problems with it.

My kit sits at room temp, which is like 68-72 or whatever the thermostat happens to be at.

After I refreshed the kit, I used the old insulin from the kit and used it in my pump. I did not have any problems with it.

[mike_g]

Thanks for the inspiration, Eric. I packed my first go bag, a canvas shaving kit bag, measuring 10x5x5 inches. It holds the following:

Bolus insulin:. 1 vial Humalog, 1 novolog pen

Basal insulin:. 2 Levemir pens

Relion prime meter, lancing device, and 3 vials of 50 ct. strips (contour next one or relion premier compact would be better)

1 Glucagon kit

31 rolls Smarties

9 syringes

12 pen needles

1 small bottle Lo dose aspirin

50 swabs

Small notepad with pen, and handwritten basics of current dosing and diabetes management (insulin/carb ratio, low BG corrections, etc).

This will cover me for 30 days, if the need arises, hope I don’t need it, but you never know, right?

[BERNIE]

Thank you for the swift reply! I’ve always been anxious about the temperature storage for my insulin. Not for the EXP date as long as it stays at the right temperature.
I still don’t understand why medical tests done in the US and published on medscape showed that some of the insulin sold in US pharmacies are already significantly inactive… before their EXP date. I could look for that document for you.

[BERNIE]

Thank you for the swift reply! I’ve always been anxious about the temperature storage for my insulin. Not for the EXP date as long as it stays at the right temperature.
I still don’t understand why medical tests done in the US and published on medscape showed that some of the insulin sold in US pharmacies are already significantly inactive… before their EXP date. As I wrote to Eric, I could look for that document for you.

[Eric]

I have a vial of unrefrigerated NovoLog that I have been saving for almost 2 years to do a demo. I have already done it with Humalog. Once I get to the 2 year mark, I will do the demo.

The Medscape article did not have anything to do with expiration or storage, only potency.

Two things of note about that study - I think they tested only NPH and Regular insulins, not the rapids.

Also, the two pharmaceutical companies - Lilly and Novo Nordisk - refuted it with studies of their own.

How do we know the Medscape people were doing the better testing compared to the testing done by Lilly and Novo Nordisk?

I have a lot of trust in both Lilly and Novo Nordisk. They have kept me alive for 48 years. Medscape has not.

[Chris]

Sadly, I think the insulin companies benefit from this anxiety and it really isn’t necessary. Additionally, the endo’s telling people to throw it away after 28 days makes me sad, especially when it isn’t necessary and so many struggle to afford their insulin…

[BERNIE]

Wish you many good years ahead, Eric!
I had no knowledge about what the insulin producers said. I only knew one side of the story…
Thank you for offering me the whole picture.