BGL HELP
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This app is provided for mnemonic purposes only.
EMS protocols in the United States vary significantly regarding the BGLs at which pharmacological intervention is called for. Such inconsistencies speak to the incredulous complexity of the subject.
The criteria in this app are based on the United States Department of Homeland Security protocols, the County of Los Angeles, California, protocols, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. Glucometer readings less than 60mg/dL or greater than 400mg/dL are intervention thresholds. For simplicity, 80mg/dL is used as a lower normal limit and 100 mg/dL is used as an upper normal limit for both fasting and postprandial (after a meal) conditions. In the field, adjust accordingly.
Intervention thresholds in various protocols include 50mg/dL or 70mg/dL on the low side and 200mg/dL, 250mg/dL, 300mg/dL, or 350mg/dL on the high side. The CDC criteria for the presence of diabetes are a BGL > than 125mg/dL in fasting conditions and > 200mg/dL after a meal. Thus, any reading at anytime greater than 200mg/dL is a sign of diabetes. These diabetic indicators do not necessarily indicate an emergency, but they can help paint a picture of a patient's health.
In the criteria chart below, VLO stands for very low, LOW stands for low, WNL stands for within normal limits, HIG stands for high, and VHI stands for very high. LO and HI as glucometer readings are used for off-the-dial extremes, the exact value of which varies according to manufacturer. In other words, LO and HI glucometer readings do not have the same exact meaning as low and high BGLs:
| Fasting BGL | |
| VLO | LO or BGL ≤ 59 |
| LOW | 60 ≥ BGL ≤ 79 |
| WNL | 80 ≥ BGL ≤ 100 |
| HIG | 101 ≥ BGL ≤ 400 |
| VHI | 401 ≥ BGL or HI |
An abnormal BGL could have other causes than diabetes. Many EMRs and some EMTs are not permitted to perform finger sticks because of the invasivness of drawing blood. For most EMTs and EMRs, a very high glucometer reading would trigger a call for advanced life support. All values in this app are for adults.
In this app, focus is reset on the GO button immediately after an answer is chosen. This permits rapid, two-handed, functioning in the desktop mode: the enter key or spacebar may be used to load a condition; the mouse may be used to choose an answer.
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