How should you carry insulin when flying? Many people with diabetes can immediately answer: Carry it with you; do not put it in the cargo hold, because the temperature in the cargo hold is around 0°C, which can cause insulin to lose effectiveness. This is the standard answer widely shared on websites, newspapers, and magazines.
However, when actually flying, many patients find this answer too simple and cannot guide their travel in detail. For this reason, we introduce Dr. Zhang Qi, an associate chief physician. She is both a doctor and a person with type 1 diabetes who takes insulin, as well as a frequent flyer.
Speak Up Proactively
People with diabetes should proactively explain their situation to airport security staff. During security checks, clearly state your medical condition and ask staff to inspect your insulin directly to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Current airport security regulations are relatively lenient toward patients with diabetes. After you voluntarily explain your condition, insulin can usually be checked manually by security staff, without going through the X-ray scanner. This also helps maintain the stability of insulin.
Bring the Right Dosage
Airlines allow passengers with diabetes to carry only the amount of insulin required for their personal treatment.Approximately 4 pens are enough for a stable patient for one month. Carrying too much insulin may cause unnecessary delays.
Calculate your required dosage before traveling. Medical access can be difficult abroad, and buying insulin is often complicated and expensive. Emergency medical costs can reach thousands of US dollars. Therefore, if you travel abroad, bring extra insulin for emergencies.
If you cannot carry too much insulin with you when going abroad, you may put the extra in your checked luggage. Although the cargo hold temperature is not always below 0°C, large temperature fluctuations are possible. Wrap insulin in thick clothing to keep the temperature stable, or use a specialized insulin travel case.
Learn Basic Emergency Phrases
Patients traveling abroad should learn some simple emergency phrases in advance.A language barrier can delay life-saving treatment and cause you to miss the best medical window.
Learn simple but important words such as:
diabetes
insulin
low blood sugar
emergency helpThese phrases could save your life when necessary.