![\"HelpAround](\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/HelpAround-diabetes.png\" "\\"HelpAround")
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I reached into my bag for my glucometer, and as I felt around for it I remembered that I\u2019d done my last blood glucose check at my desk. \u00a0When I\u2019d grabbed my things to go out, I hadn\u2019t put my glucometer in my bag.<\/p>\n
Two diabetics out for dinner and no way to check blood sugar.<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t the first time we\u2019d had a diabetes supply crisis. \u00a0Last July, while attending the Children With Diabetes conference in Orlando, Mike and I lost all of our insulin. \u00a0We\u2019d had to switch rooms in the hotel and forgot to take the insulin out of the refrigerator when we moved to our new room. \u00a0By the time we realized this, Mike\u2019s insulin pump reservoir was empty and he\u2019d pulled out his infusion set. \u00a0He was completely disconnected.<\/p>\n
Mike was half fuming and half panicked. \u00a0I stayed fairly calm, called the hotel management to ask for help locating the insulin, and then I went straight to Facebook. \u00a0Many of my Facebook friends were also at the Children With Diabetes conference. \u00a0I knew someone would be able to help, and that fact was so reassuring. \u00a0It is, after all, very disconcerting to know that you\u2019ve lost the very thing you need to stay alive.<\/p>\n
Within a few minutes I had replies from several Facebook friends offering insulin. \u00a0There were tears of gratitude in my eyes. \u00a0But I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about what we\u2019d do if something like this happened when we weren\u2019t at a conference full of people with diabetes. \u00a0Who would help us out? \u00a0I didn\u2019t know it at the time, but a new social app, HelpAround.co<\/a>, was created to help people in exactly situations like this.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Founded by Yishai Knobel<\/a>, the former head of Mobile Health at the diabetes tech startup AgaMatrix, and Shlomi Aflalo<\/a>, former VP R&D at advertising technology startup eXelate, HelpAround<\/a> is a Tel-Aviv based startup that crawls social networks to figure out who can help you when you\u2019re in need. \u00a0The inspiration for HelpAround came from entrepreneur Robert Oringer<\/a>, the father of two sons with diabetes.<\/p>\n Several years ago, Robert took his younger son to an NHL game at the Bell Centre in Montreal\u2014an arena seating more than 21,000 fans. Upon arriving at their seats, his son realized that he had forgotten to bring his diabetes supply bag with his meter, lancing device, glucose tabs, and emergency glucagon. In one of those diabetes \u201cfind a solution fast\u201d moments, Robert quickly considered the alternatives\u2014 leave the arena and drive back home (too far), head over to the nearest pharmacy (also far and likely costly), or try to locate someone else in the arena with diabetes willing to help, if necessary, with supplies. \u00a0That night, Robert decided to \u201croll the dice\u201d and stay at the arena with his son to watch the game while simultaneously observing his son for signs that his blood sugar might be high or low.<\/p>\n While his son enjoyed the game, Robert spent the game (and the drive home) thinking how mobile phone technology could be used to discreetly identify and reach out to other people nearby with diabetes for help. \u00a0With more than 21,000 people in the arena, based purely on percentages, there surely must have been several hundred people with diabetes that night who could have assisted. Thanks to HelpAround<\/a>, that thought is no longer a \u201cwhat-if,\u201d it\u2019s a real option.<\/p>\n So, are you wondering how HelpAround<\/a> can know enough about you to connect you to people in your network? \u00a0Maybe you\u2019ve noticed that ads for shoes come up on your screen after you\u2019ve done a search for shoes. \u00a0Companies know a lot about you and Shlomi Aflalo\u2019s background in behavioral ad targeting makes him an expert in this industry. \u00a0What makes him different, though, is that rather than using the data he can collect about you to sell you products, with HelpAround, he is using that data for the exclusive purpose of helping you.<\/p>\n HelpAround<\/a> is part of the growing sharing economy<\/a>, where people share underutilized resources with others. \u00a0Some of the famous services out there are AirBnB<\/a>, where individuals rent unoccupied living space and other short-term lodging to guests, and Lyft<\/a>, a company whose Smartphone App facilitates peer-to-peer ridesharing by enabling passengers who need a ride to request one from drivers who have a car.<\/p>\n Robin Chase, founder of car sharing service, ZipCar, coined the phrase \u201crevealing abundance\u201d to describe the mission of the peer economy. \u00a0However, HelpAround is taking this mission to the next level, where the shared resource is not just an underutilized asset but the actual skill, knowledge, and availability of a nearby peer.<\/p>\n Knobel told me that HelpAround is seeing staggering demand among healthcare organizations \u2013 cancer patients, asthma, allergy sufferers, and others, who are looking to provide a location-based safety net and peer support to their patients.<\/p>\n Knobel says that the platform is still in development and will remain free at least through 2014, especially as the team looks for inputs from passionate, high-solidarity communities.<\/p>\n Sign up for HelpAround now: http:\/\/diabetes.helparound.co<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Find HelpAround on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have no doubt that HelpAround will benefit the diabetes community. Our lives depend on supplies, after all, but with our busy lifestyles and scattered minds, forgetting something is a real risk. As we begin to use HelpAround, other communities will learn and become inspired by the solidarity among people with diabetes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":35034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1439],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Helparound\"](\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Helparound-home.jpg\" "\\"Helparound1\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>I have no doubt that HelpAround<\/a> will benefit the diabetes community. Our lives depend on supplies, after all, but with our busy lifestyles and scattered minds, forgetting something is a real risk. \u00a0As we begin to use HelpAround, other communities will learn and become inspired by the solidarity among people with diabetes. \u00a0With HelpAround, our community is poised to become the first crowdsourced safety net out there, and it will set the bar high for additional patient communities.<\/p>\n