Diabetes center 'sees' local students online

Diabetic students from the South Jefferson Central School District and Lowville Academy and Central School will spend less time traveling to the Joslin Diabetes Center, Syracuse.

The school districts are part of the center's pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of telemedicine care for diabetic children in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to nurse practitioner Kathleen A. Bratt, a certified diabetes educator with the Joslin Center.

"We just got them up and running in October, so it's still fresh," she said. "We talk to each other live on the computer."

Mrs. Bratt said each of the school districts' buildings is equipped with a computer and webcam so someone from the center, the student and the school nurse can communicate and share results of the student's blood glucose tests.

School nurses can download student data, so everyone reviews the information together. The meter results will tell someone from the diabetes center if a student's treatment should be adjusted.

"The meetings are fairly brief — 10 to 15 minutes," Mrs. Bratt said. "We set it up month to month. We work around a student's schedule."

So far, the study found improvements were made in diabetic children's lab tests and emotional function, Mrs. Bratt said. Urgent diabetic calls have been reduced significantly, she said.

The Joslin Diabetes Center would like to expand the program into other north country school districts. A similar project was started in Onondaga County, Mrs. Bratt said.

Lowville Superintendent Kenneth J. McAuliffe said he was contacted by the diabetes center to join the pilot program because the school had the technical ability to have the on-site virtual clinic.

"It was a pilot without an end," he said. "It didn't have a year attached to it, but it was going to be a trial to help our children and parents avoid the long travel across the Tug Hill."

Cheryl L. Kelly, registered nurse with the school, said Lowville connects with the diabetes center each month, working with two of its nurse practitioners.

Seven students are a part of the program, she said.

"We're still working out the bugs with the technology," she said. "We're supposed to be able to download readings from their glucose meters into our computer, but we haven't been able to share our readings with them," Mrs. Kelly said.

She said the school district is working with the diabetes center to work out the technological snags.

South Jefferson has not had any problems with the program yet, according to Alice M. Curtis, registered nurse and nurse coordinator for the district.

"I think it's really good because they're able to adjust the insulin and answer any questions students or nurses have," she said. "I think it's really going to help keep our students under better control."

The district's four school buildings have a setup for the program. About five Type 1 diabetic students use the program.

Mrs. Curtis said the direct contact among the diabetes center, school, children and parents helps keep everyone better informed.

Although she said no contract was signed with the diabetes center, the program will continue for at least one year.