When the current standard of care and the tools and techniques used to manage diabetes are unfamiliar to staff who care for students with diabetes, health and safety is compromised.

• This message, like others, underscores the need for HB146. Anyone who cares for a child with diabetes must have current, relevant training in the standards of diabetes care. This training is required by HB146 and readily available at no cost. LEARN >>>

• The standard syringe for children and most adults with type 1 diabetes is a 3/10cc syringe. Thus, the insulin dose imagined by this nurse would require either (a) filling a typical insulin syringe to capacity nearly twice and injecting twice, (b) using a larger syringe, atypical for the treatment of children with type 1 diabetes.

• Insulin is dosed in units, not cc's.

• Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are conditions where either too little or too much glucose is in the blood. Unchecked, either condition can be dangerous. However, preventing and treating hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is not as complicated as some make it sound. Regular monitoring is the best way to avoid either condition. Any intermittant concerns can be verified easily with an extra blood glucose check.

• Some children in Illinois receive good care at school. When they do, it is provided by trained nurses and volunteer aides. Other times, though, no care at all is provided. Parents, legislators and advocates believe all children are entitled to care at school.

• Periodically, school nurses ask supporters of HB146 to work for more nurses in the schools and abandon the bill as proof that we care for children. If we believed a nurse in every school was the answer, we would. But nurse-centered solutions are incomplete. Supporters of HB146 care profoundly for children with diabetes, which is why they've worked so diligently to advance this creative, concientious, child-centered solution.