Rick Clark / Founder Diabetes Response Service:

I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was in my thirties, while raising a family of five and running a thriving residential construction firm in Southern California. As the disease progressed, so did the responsibilities of maintaining, monitoring and living with diabetes on a day to day basis. When I reached my forties, I had adapted to a diabetic lifestyle. But as with all diabetics, it wasn't uncommon for me to go into hypoglycemic, or insulin shock several times a year resulting in passing out, seizures and hospital stays.

These life threatening situations typically occurred in the middle of the night, when I was unconscious. Fortunately, my wife, my kids or people aware of my situation would recognize my state and bring me out of insulin shock by rubbing cake frosting on the inside of my lips until I became conscious enough to raise my glucose levels myself by eating something more substantial like a sandwich. During seizures, an ambulance would be dispatched to my home followed by several hours or several days in the hospital to recover. If no one had been around during those times, I wouldn't be here today. Many diabetics aren't as lucky.

Now that I'm in my fifties and single, I face the challenge of controlling my diabetes without daily support. The fear of going into insulin shock during the middle of the night created stress and paranoia. I knew that If I had a bad episode while no one was around, I couldn't regain consciousness to raise my own glucose levels, which would lead to brain cell death or physical death. I knew that a push button emergency system would not benefit my situation -- you have to be conscious to activate those services. Living in a new town, my only reliable resources were my brother, who lived half an hour away, and my neighbors. Like many single diabetics, I had to create my own alert system.

My brother took on the responsibility of calling me every night and every morning to make sure I was alright. When I didn't answer the phone, he would rush across town and administer glucose or call 911 if my situation was severe. I informed my neighbors about my situation and gave them a key to my house, so that my brother could instruct them to check on me if I didn't answer his scheduled calls. My neighbors saved my life a handful of times over the course of two years when my glucose levels were unstable. I had created a system of security, freedom and independence... except the burdon I had placed on my friends and relatives.

This is when I began Diabetes Response Service - a call based monitoring system for diabetics. The DRS model is a daily support system providing scheduled calls to maintain, monitor and prevent hypoglycemia, seizures, brain cell death, expensive medical costs and ultimately, physical death diabetics face every day. When you sign up with Diabetes Response Service you can regain the freedom and independence, while eliminating the stress and financial costs of a disease affecting 20 million people in the United States alone, and 200 million worldwide.