Checking blood sugar when on jury service

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pawprint91

pawprint91

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Hello all! Hope everyone is well, long time no post for me!

For those who’ve done jury service - were you able to check your blood sugar in the courtroom? I am starting it soon and they’ve been a bit vague (even when I emailed them directly). They said I will be able to - but didn’t specify how. I have obtained a Libre reader from Abbott purely for jury service, but won’t bother starting my next sensor at the end of this week with it if I would have to treat it like my phone and leave it outside of the courtroom anyway.

I know court only sits for about 90 mins at a time and I am hypo aware so not massively concerned; just wondering how it would work logistically. Also, how did administering insulin work for you (particularly in terms of if you had to correct after eating). They told me I can take food and drink into the courtroom (reassuring) but didn’t give an answer about insulin. I understand I will survive if I am able to take food and drink in, I just don’t like the thought of my insulin being miles from me if my blood sugar is rocketing up (but if I can’t check it without also retrieving phone/reader/finger prick kit from wherever insulin is also stored, then I guess I won’t know that I need it till I’m there :rofl:).

If any threads on this do exist then please do link me - I could find one but not with the answer to my questions - thank you!
 
I asked those very questions this summer when I was called for jury service. I did also have a DSN hospital appointment that clashed which may have been the real reason for them sending me a letter saying I was excused.
 
I would imagine your insulin would be treated very much like an asthma inhaler. If you need it you need it. There really should be no problem in checking your levels and correcting if necessary. Jury service should not adversely impact your health. I can't advise on Libre but I can't see much obvious difference between a Libre reader and a BG meter in terms of what it looks like, ie it is an electronic device, but again they should not deny you a means of testing your levels and a reader is much quicker and less disruptive to others than having to finger prick and test blood.

I think @eggyg was called up but didn't actually end up doing jury service if I remembers rightly, so she may know more.
 
I did do jury service last year and had a very distressing case over a week. I never had to check my BGs as as you say I was never in the court room for more than 90 minutes at a time and I don’t check my BGs for hours when I am anywhere else except if I’m walking or climbing fells. You will be surprised how little you’re in the court room, you’re in and out all the time for varying reasons and lunch breaks didn’t tend to be shorter than 1.5 hours so plenty of time to pre bolus therefore highly unlikely to need a correction. I did have hypo treatments in my bag and have good hypo awareness. I took my own lunches in so knew exactly how much insulin I needed. I was torn whether to tell them I was diabetic as I didn’t want to “stand out” or in fact be dismissed on medical grounds. So I didn’t. It’s no one’s business what condition I have, I didn’t tell them I have gastric issues either, I manage my conditions every other day of the week and didn’t think this was any different. Luckily, I only had to do one week as the case we had was emotionally draining.
 
Thanks @eggyg (and everyone else!) - thinking if I was going to get dismissed on medical grounds I’d have done so by now, told them in detail all about diabetes when I first got the jury summons letter and again in a separate email - but they still seem to want me :rofl:
 
pawprint91 said:
Thanks @eggyg (and everyone else!) - thinking if I was going to get dismissed on medical grounds I’d have done so by now, told them in detail all about diabetes when I first got the jury summons letter and again in a separate email - but they still seem to want me :rofl:
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That’s good, we’re just normal people with a dodgy pancreas or indeed none at all in my case! We go to work, look after children/grandchildren/ elderly parents. Socialise, go on holiday, do sports, jury service is just another one or two weeks in our lives. You may not even get a case, my hubby sat for two whole weeks in the waiting room reading. He was raging!
 
My husband was called but only served for one coroners inquest and that was that. I've never been called but don't think you're automatically ineligible by age until you're 75 - so in that case, Pete's time up is the end of January '24 and another 17 months for me!
 
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