https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/well/live/Dexcom-G6-diabetes-monitor-outage.html
By Anahad O’Connor
The New York Times
December 2, 2019
For many parents of children with diabetes, the Dexcom G6 continuous glucose
monitor is a lifesaver. The device tracks their children’s glucose levels and
sends them an alert when their blood sugar climbs too high or falls too low,
allowing them to take quick action to correct it.
But around midnight on Friday, Dexcom suffered a mysterious service outage,
leaving thousands of people who rely on the device for critical information in
the dark. Many parents who woke up on Saturday morning and learned about the
outage hours after it began had to scramble to make sure their children were
safe. The affected service, Dexcom Follow, had been partly restored by Monday
morning, a company spokesman said.
In Connecticut, Virginia Coleman-Prisco’s son John, 10, a Type 1 diabetic, has
worn a Dexcom glucose monitor for the past four years. Normally the device
sends an alarm to her smartphone when John’s glucose levels require urgent
action. But early Saturday morning his blood sugar plummeted to dangerously low
levels while he was fast asleep and no alert was sent out.
At around 5 a.m., her other son, Michael, 6, heard John moaning in distress and
screamed for help, prompting Dr. Coleman-Prisco and her husband to jump out of
bed and run to John’s side. They were able to get his blood sugar back to a
safe level by stirring him awake and feeding him apple juice and gummy candies
meant to help restore glucose levels in diabetics.
[...]
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