Police
The Boys in Blue have done it again. According to an article in today's Boston Globe, the police department in Northampton, MA will not hire a person who uses an insulin pump.
I'm guessing that the theory is that injecting insulin could lead to low blood sugars, which could compromise a person's ability to react, make decisions, fire a weapon, etc. They will hire you if you take injections, depending upon the severity of the diabetes. I'm guessing that this means they'll hire a person with type 2 who injects insulin once a day.
I hope the publicity surrounding this particular case will cause the Northampton police to increase their understanding of diabetes and how it is managed. Kudos to the young man involved for fighting the policy and drawing attention to the situation!
posted by Kassie @ 8:08 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
My husband is a pumping police officer! It is a shame that people are so uneducated. I would rather he pump than take shots as an officer. If he gets into a situation with a long wait or heavy activity, he can adjust his basals and be so much safer than having too much insulin from a shot.
Anon - your hubby could probably help this department understand better! Maybe he could be in touch with the folks involved...
Oh I'm sure that police dept will be getting some educating from people who know better.
Kassie, I live the next town over from Northampton. Do you know if there's a contact person or somewhere to write a letter? I'd be very happy to take O down to the NoHo police station to talk to whomever made this boneheaded decision.
I'm kind of surprised - Northampton is such a progressive town, I'd think they'd be more informed about something like this.
It looks like it's a state thing, not just a town regulation. I guess this needs to addressed at a state level.
I was thinking the same thing as Julia, what an ass-backward decision for such a "liberal" city.
What is it with people thinking because you're on a pump you "have diabetes REAL bad!" *roll*
Anyone know what happened?
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