Dexcom and Earthquakes.
At the ADA Scientific Sessions two weeks ago, I ended up in a conversation with Tom Karlya about the Dexcom and how sometimes the alarms don't wake me up when I need them to most.
"Which is why it ends up in a glass on the bedside table almost every night," I said to him.
And then he told me about this iPhone application, iSeismometer, that was created to detect earthquakes and alert people at the very first vibration, letting loose with an insanely loud warning alarm. Loud.
"But if you put the Dexcom receiver on the same table, and the Dex starts to vibrate in response to a low or high, the iSeismometer picks up the vibration. And you won't sleep through that alarm," he said, chuckling.
The app is free, it's smooth and easy to set up, and the accidental application for diabetes is priceless. (There's an option to Report an Earthquake, which I have switched to "off" since I'm using it for Dexcom alarms; otherwise, there's going to be a sharp increase in "earthquakes"reported in Rhode Island.)
So can earthquake apps be cross-posted in "Health" in iTunes? Yup.
Comments
that. is. awesome!
Posted by: Abby | June 26, 2012 09:52 AM
Oh my gosh - this is perfect!!
I just wrote a post to complain about another night of missed alarms.
Thanks Kerri!
Here come the Florida quakes!
Posted by: Sara | June 26, 2012 09:54 AM
Genius.
Posted by: Kim | June 26, 2012 09:56 AM
Very cool! Thanks for letting us know!
Posted by: Lindsay | June 26, 2012 09:57 AM
GENIUS!!! Wow... this is brilliant. I can't even contain myself about how awesome this is - being one of those "put the Dex in a jar of change on the nightstand" myself. Of course, I still must resist the temptation to stuff the Dex under my pillow.
Posted by: Mike Hoskins | June 26, 2012 10:36 AM
Wow that Tom guy is pretty clever ;) I just posted on Sara's blog that I must not be in the norm - the vibrations alone from the Dex usually wake me up. But if it didn't, I would certainly be up for trying this app out.
Posted by: Stacey D. | June 26, 2012 10:44 AM
Awesome, will be helpful as Hunter heads off to college...
Posted by: Robyn Morgen | June 26, 2012 11:04 AM
So what you're saying is that I really need to get Q an iPod Touch for her birthday so that I can put it on her nightstand with the Dex? She'd really like her own iPhone...gah!
We're only 1 week into using Dex. I've been using a baby monitor, but I don't like hearing the static. Several parents have told me about a Radio Shack microphone that works well.
Posted by: Leighann of D-Mom Blog | June 26, 2012 11:19 AM
As a total hater of earthquakes I think this app would freak me the heck out.
Slick idea though.
Wanna know the sad part? I hear the Dexcom alarms because I don't sleep well. You want to know why? Earthquakes. I am so freaked out about earthquakes that I hardly sleep.
Posted by: George | June 26, 2012 11:19 AM
Oh My Gosh!!! Kerri, you can't just bring this up like it's a neat trick you found. This is AEWSOME. This is HUGE. This is a life CHANGER!!!! Do you know the lentghs ppl go throuhg to up the alarm--from a glass full of pennies to a sound system complete with mic clipped to their pump. PPl spend tons and wrig their kids up with baby monitors and amplifiers trying to hear the alarm. You just saved lives and several night's sleep for lots of ppl. Jump up and down when you have news like this. :)
Posted by: Denise | June 26, 2012 11:41 AM
That has to be the coolest thing ever!!! Stupid iPod touches and iPhones get all the cool stuff.
Posted by: Miriam | June 26, 2012 11:57 AM
I think my geologist husband is going to get a big kick out of this!
Posted by: Allison Blass | June 26, 2012 12:18 PM
I wondering if there's anything on the droid phones.
Posted by: Betty | June 26, 2012 12:42 PM
OMG! What a great find Kerri. This is a dream come true for me as the Dex in a cup with coins isn't working consistently for me. Thanks for passing this along! xo
Posted by: Alecia | June 26, 2012 01:21 PM
Thank you *so* much for this tip! The last two nights have had me waking up to a long line at LOW on my Dex :( (Last night, it woke me up the first time but I fell asleep again before I was able to rub enough brain cells together to do something about it...)
P.S. Hope Abby (the Cat) turns up soon!
Posted by: Jana | June 26, 2012 01:49 PM
I am just passing along something that was taught to me......please; I deserve none of the credit. If it helps----FABULOUS!!!!
Posted by: Tom Karlya | June 26, 2012 03:57 PM
BRILLIANT.
Posted by: k2 | June 26, 2012 05:15 PM
AWESOME! I can sleep through the Dexcom alarms for hours.
Posted by: Anne Findlay Dowling | June 26, 2012 08:13 PM
I don't even have a CGM & I think this is pure genius! Man, I knew Tom was smart & wise, but this is beyond awesome!
Here's hoping you have a lot less nighttime "quakes".
Posted by: PrincessLadyBug | June 26, 2012 08:37 PM
Wow, great idea! Here in California, very few people sleep through earthquakes. We're sort of jumpy that way. : )
Posted by: Columba Lisa Smith | June 26, 2012 09:12 PM
So I'm only into T1D with my daughter three months, but really? We are supposed to get excited about this? With all the attention and money being put into apps, this is a no brainer. We shouldn't have to cobble together solutions that will enable our children (and us) to survive. Yeah, earthquakes are devastating (I experienced Loma Prieta), but living with a disease daily deserves more than an earthquake fix.
Posted by: liza | June 27, 2012 01:53 AM
In response to Betty, Iseismometer by ObjectGraph is available on the google playstore for droid phones
Posted by: Joe White | June 27, 2012 08:22 AM
ISeismometer for droid phones doesn't seem to vibrate, just graphs 8-(!
Posted by: Joe White | June 27, 2012 08:27 AM
There's a Droid version called Earthquake Detector, but it does cost ($1.99 I think)
Posted by: Annette | June 27, 2012 08:40 AM
"So I'm only into T1D with my daughter three months, but really? We are supposed to get excited about this?"
LOL--newbie. ;) The alarms have been an ongoing problem for cgm and pumps for ages. Put winter blankets on and you may as well turn the thing off. There are solutions, like the sentry (lmao--it costs 3 grand!) If you can spend 1.99 instead for an app you will. Why? Well, you could wait for FDA approval for a better idea but you'll lose a lot of sleep in the meantime. They've got us by the you-know-whats.
Posted by: denise | June 27, 2012 10:56 AM
That is just brilliant! And hilarious. Thanks!
Posted by: Kristin | June 27, 2012 03:12 PM
Thank you so much for the blog, and this info is terrific! It took me 3 minutes from the time I read it until the time I downloaded the program on the touch.
Posted by: Mary M | June 27, 2012 07:23 PM
Hi Kerri,
Thanks for posting this. I also have seeeerious problems waking up at night when my Dexcom is buzzing ...I have the deepest sleep you can imagine. After reading your post, I got curious at doing this with my Android Phone (Galaxy Nexsu)> I found an app also called iSeismometer in Google Play, but unfortunately it did not provide any audible alarms ...however, I found another one called "Quake Oracle" taht does do audible alarms when detecting vibrations. I placed my dexcom on top of my phone with the application running and saw that the app does play a recording of a woman's voice saying "Alert, S-Wave Detected" when my Dexcom buzzes on top of the phone. I haven't tried yet to see if it will wake me when my Dexcom buzzes overnight, but thought that it would only be fair to give back a little by sharing the link to this Android app in hopes that it will help someone else as well.
It has two versions. The free one is called "Quake Oracle Demo" and can be found here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobive.quake_oracle_demo&feature=nav_result#?t=W10.
The paid one (I haven't tried it as the free one already gives the notifications) can be found here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobive.quake_oracle&feature=search_result#?t=W10.
Posted by: Alfredo | July 2, 2012 03:50 AM