For coaches, teachers and hosts

Coaches, teachers, hosts and friends are often the adults on the spot when something happens — and often the last to be told what to do. This page is a short briefing for each of those roles. The full detail lives in the Food, Movement and Drugs and alcohol sections, linked below.

Everyone in these roles needs the basics first: how to spot a low, how to fix it, and when to call 911. That is on what the people around you need to know.

Coaches, teachers and training partners

Type 1 is not a reason to sit a child out of PE, training or competition — every guideline says so explicitly. A newly diagnosed athlete needs help getting back to normal training as soon as possible, not a season off.

What you need to have:

• a written plan from their team, shared with you
• fast glucose at the side — tablets, gel, sports drink
• a way to check, and permission to pause for it
• their emergency contact
• to know they may not feel a low coming

In a child, the signs of a low are harder to read and easy to mistake for effort or a bad mood. A pause to check is not a player being difficult. Sugar first, questions after.

If you coach or teach someone with type 1, ask whether you have actually been given their written plan. Often the answer is no. The full guidance is in What coaches need to know in the Movement section.

Hosts cooking a meal

Less helpful: making a separate "diabetic meal," pushing second helpings (that's a second dose, not just more food), asking "are you allowed that?", buying sugar-free versions as a kindness, or announcing to the table why the menu changed.

The biggest one is timing. Many people dose 15 to 20 minutes before eating. If dinner slips an hour, the insulin is already working and the food isn't there. Give an honest time, update it if it slips, and don't be offended if they eat a roll while waiting. A Nutrition Facts panel is worth more than any reassurance.

Parents hosting a kids' party

The answer is never for the child to stay home; it is to plan a bit and accept that it won't be perfect. Tell the family what food there is and roughly when, and put the running-around games after eating rather than before. The cake and the loot bag are both yes.

Both hosting guides are in full in Hosting and kids' parties in the Food section.

Friends on a night out

The same three steps apply — spot it, fix it with sugar if they can swallow, call 911 if they can't — with one addition: drunk, high and hypo can look the same from the outside, so don't let them just sleep it off. Ambulances aren't police; nobody gets charged for calling one. More in What your friends should know in the Drugs and alcohol section.