Dexcom

[kidzcare]

Do any of you have diabetic students who use Dexcom?

I have a sixth grader using it and it's pretty cool! It's continuous sugar monitoring of the interstitial fluid. The student has permission to carry their phone and the app sends an alert to the cell phone when blood sugar is too high or low. It sends alerts to her parents' phones. So they've called me once or twice to say "Hey we noticed the sugar was reading low, is the student in the office?" and then I call the student down to use a glucometer and monitor until BS is in range.

Because it's continuous, it shows overnight trends too and give a projected A1C (of course it doesn't replace blood draws).

I guess the nurse who was here before me also got alerts on her phone for during the school day, but I don't think I want to be getting alerts. I wonder about the legalities of that outside of school hours too. I don't need to know what her blood sugar is on a weekend after having birthday cake at a friend's house, ya know?

ETA- here's a link Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring | Dexcom CGM | Learn More

If you see the above edit... Then I can edit again!

[Cattz, ADN]

I am not familiar with this. But, it sounds like an amazing tool.

[sara567]

Not a school nurse, but I am a dexcom user.

They should be able to direct a time frame for when you get alerts. You can also get them sent to your email.

[kidzcare]

I am not familiar with this. But, it sounds like an amazing tool.

I had never heard of it until I started at this school a few weeks ago! Yay technology!

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i am aware of them. I think they're really great technology. I'm with you, though... i don't think i'd want my phone connected to that student. Student privacy aside, the thought of my phone chirping at 3 am on a sunday would make me feel like i'm always on duty.

[Windchaser22]

Yes I'm familiar with them. If you can get the school to supply an iPod or an iPad and the parent gives you access, you can monitor interstitial glucose in real time. Very helpful when you have unstable and/or multiple kids.

I'm not using my phone unless the district wants to pay my bill lol. Actually I just don't want my private number out there.

At any rate, although the dex is a good tool, we've seen large differences from time to time between dex readings and actual BGs. Generally, I like them though. Anything to help manage DM in real time before huge swings occur is a good thing.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

Holy mackerel! I do camp over the summer. The thought of being able to track 4-6 diabetics through the day and night is exciting.

[GmaPearl BSN RN]

This is my 4th year with a student and his Dexcom. It is set to "alarm" (vibrate) at 100 low (he tanks fast) and 200 high. It has been very useful because child has had very little sense/sensation of when he is going low… This year he is getting a better awareness (one of my long term goals). This year he also has the cellphone that communicates with mom's cell phone. She has called me a couple of times when she's been alerted to a double down (fast drop) situation before his meter would alarm and I call him up for BG check and usually OJ + protein. I have chosen not to have the app on my phone (mom offered) for the same reasons as expressed above.

I like the Dexcom. Even though the numbers are not a current accurate BG (it is a bit behind), it has a graph that shows the trend. It is literally a life saver for fragile kids like mine as it alerts the parents at night of lows.

[sara567]

Just as an FYI: dexcom is just one of a few brands that offer this.

For none of the cgms (continuous glucose monitors) is one supposed to do treatment off the numbers that the cgm provides. It measures glucose differently (interstitial fluid), is affected by pressure (many people have issues if they sleep on it) and hydration levels (if numbers are more than 20 off, have them drink water). Also, while they are only fda approved for wearing in the stomach (for adults...kids have a few options)for many people that doesn't work and they eventually figure out where are good places for them (mine are in my thighs).

It's also important to know that there will be days the child doesn't wear it at all, for various reasons.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I love the idea of CGMs.

However, while cool with lots of info, I have not yet worked with a MS/HS student that is willing to wear one while at school. They all hate it, even one student that really needs it. When you don't wear it, no info and just .

Some of the doctors and NPs have the student try and wear it for about a week before their next appointment to get some information for best management. That works. Sometimes.

[JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN]

My DM student wears one and it's very cool. It also periodically requires a calibration, so they student will check her BG via FS and input it into the dexcom to kind of reset it and keep it on track. It's very very handy and my student loves it.

[kidzcare]

At any rate, although the dex is a good tool, we've seen large differences from time to time between dex readings and actual BGs. Generally, I like them though. Anything to help manage DM in real time before huge swings occur is a good thing.

In my reading, I learned that this can be a problem. Even if it alerts that BG is trending down, it's a great signal to the student to come to my office and do a finger stick. And I love that it shows if the BG is trending up or down. Yesterday at dismissal, my student came in and she was at 130 but took juice with to have on the bus because she was trending down and had a 25 minute ride ahead of her. I love this tool!

Holy mackerel! I do camp over the summer. The thought of being able to track 4-6 diabetics through the day and night is exciting.

Wow! This is the perfect tool for that! You could quickly see if a kid was waking up with a BG of 60 and hightail it to them with some juice instead of waiting until they are up and doing a finger stick and maybe dropping into the 40s!