CINCINNATI (Liz Bonis) -- A west side couple now work with a treatment team to educate everyone about the early warning signs of diabetic shock after a scary incident.
A man in a car slammed into a gas pump, narrowly escaping the fiery crash because of a daring rescue, and investigators say it all happened because he went into diabetic shock.
Laurie Hanauer knows what that feels like.
She too has Type 1 diabetes which is the kind that requires the hormone insulin to survive.
"I haven't ever had an accident, but I've gotten home and don't remember driving home, or I've had some kind of close calls," she says.
It's often Laurie's husband, Steve, who sees she's in trouble as her blood sugar levels begin to come crashing down.
"I can usually tell a lot of time before she does actually. She kind of gets a blank expression on her face and almost moves like in slow motion," says Steve.
Dr. Mike Heile says he teaches patients to try and recognize this drop before shock sets in.
"They get shaky. They might get confused. They get irritable," he says.
"It's important to note," he says, "That while the patient may know some of the early warning signs, the rest of us should know a few of these warning signs as well."
And if you are not certain what they are, you can ask a co-worker, you can do a little research on your own and, more importantly, you can look for certain identifications.
Car or bracelet IDs can tell you a person has diabetes which is important because shock signs can be subtle.
The end result, however, is not always subtle, which is why Laurie Hanauer has learned to test herself before she drives.
Both the driver and the man who rescued him survived this accident.
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