How to Reach Your Child's Diabetes Care Team
If your child has diabetes, you need to know who to call when you have questions or need help. Our diabetes care teams in San Francisco and Oakland are here to assist you. Here are instructions on how to reach your child's team in Oakland or San Francisco, plus what to do in an emergency.
What to do in an emergency
If your child is unconscious, has a seizure or is unresponsive:
- Test your child's blood sugar.
- If it's low, give your child a glucagon injection.
- Call 911.
How to reach your Oakland care team
Routine issues
Call 510-428-3885#, to speak with a diabetes educator.
If you reach voicemail, leave a message. We will return your call within three business days.
Call the number above for nonurgent issues, such as:
- Insulin dose adjustments
- Prescription issues
- School forms and concerns
- Insurance authorizations
- Questions that don’t require an immediate response
Urgent issues
During Oakland's regular clinic hours, call 510-428-3654 and, as soon as the call goes through, press 5# to speak to an endocrinologist. If you reach voicemail, do not leave a message; instead, hang up and call the number below.
When the clinic is closed (or if a call during regular hours goes to voicemail), call 510-428-3000 and ask to speak to the on-call endocrinologist.
Use these numbers if your child:
- Is sick
- Is unable to eat or drink
- Is vomiting
- Has very low blood sugar that you can't stabilize
- Is in need of glucagon
- Is urinating moderate to large levels of ketones
- Received the wrong insulin dose
How to reach your San Francisco care team
Routine issues
Call 415-514-6234 during regular clinic hours and ask to speak with the on-call care provider or diabetes educator.
Urgent issues
Call the clinic at 415-514-6234. If you call during regular clinic hours, tell the staff member who answers that you have an urgent issue and need to speak with the on-call provider.
If the clinic is closed, the call will be forwarded to the hospital operator. Ask the operator to page the on-call diabetes care provider. The provider should contact you within 30 minutes. If you don't hear back within that time frame, please call again.
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals medical specialists have reviewed this information. It is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your child's doctor or other health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your child's provider.
Printable education materials
Recommended reading
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Food as Medicine
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