Coming soon: the full course
Everything you'd want to know, before the moment you need it.
The free modules give you the basics. The full course goes deeper, filmed demonstrations with real devices, a proper glucagon walkthrough, printable guides for your fridge, and scenarios that feel like your actual life.
- 8
- core modules
- Practical
- video lessons
- Hands on
- demonstrations
- Printable
- fridge guides
Why this course is different
Most diabetes training is built for clinicians, schools, or workplace compliance. This is built for real life, the moments before a paramedic, doctor, or diabetes team can step in.
Built for the people around the person
Parents, partners, carers, friends, colleagues, teachers and support workers, not just health professionals.
Australian context, start to finish
Australian Rule of 15, emotional health guidance aligned with NDSS, 000 escalation, and Virtual ED where appropriate.
A real glucagon demonstration
Most people have never seen glucagon used. Rhiannan opens a real kit and walks through it on camera, at real speed.
Emotional first aid is core, not optional
Diabetes distress, hypo anxiety, carer burnout, respectful language, and moving from monitoring to supporting.
Real scenarios, not slides
Every module has realistic situations, like a CGM alarm at work, a stubborn high or a partner's midnight worry, with encouraging feedback.
Led by a Credentialled Diabetes Educator and Registered Nurse
Rhiannan Pitts has over 15 years of clinical experience, translated into plain language for everyday people.
The gap this fills
Nobody is teaching the clinical and the emotional side together
There is plenty of good information out there, but it sits in separate places and it is rarely built for the people standing beside someone with diabetes.
- Free fact sheets and helplines cover diabetes distress and burnout, but they are reading material, not training you can practise.
- Diabetes Australia's Language Matters work set the global standard on respectful language, yet it is written for clinicians and organisations, not for families.
- The one structured, paid course on diabetes distress in Australia is restricted to health professionals.
- The carer training that does exist teaches insulin and hypo safety, and stops short of language, stigma and food policing.
This course puts both halves in one place: what to do in the emergency, and what to say in the everyday. That combination does not exist anywhere else in Australia.
The curriculum
Nine modules, built to be done one at a time.
1. Diabetes, plainly explained
The mental model everything else rests on, what insulin actually does, how type 1 and type 2 differ, and why glucose moves the way it does.
What insulin does (and what happens without it)
A plain language walkthrough with no jargon and no biochemistry degree required.
Type 1, type 2, LADA, gestational: what changes for a first aider
Why the emergency response is similar but the day to day reality is very different.
Reading glucose like a first aider, not a clinician
Trends over single numbers, and the three readings that should make you act.
↓ Fridge sheet: the numbers that matter
2. Hypoglycaemia: mild to severe
The core emergency skill. From an early wobble through to an unconscious person, with the Australian Rule of 15 at the centre.
Early signs, and the ones people hide
Shaking, sweating, snapping at you, plus reduced hypo awareness and why it's dangerous.
The Rule of 15, step by step
15g of fast acting carbs, wait 15 minutes, test again, then a slower carb if a meal is more than 20 minutes away.
Severe hypo: seizure, unconscious, unable to swallow
Recovery position, nothing by mouth, call 000, and what to tell the operator.
Night time hypos and hypo fear
What partners and parents actually worry about, and how to plan for it calmly.
Practical: building a hypo kit for home, car, school bag and workplace.
↓ Printable: Rule of 15 poster + hypo kit checklist
3. Glucagon: the demonstration
Most people have never seen glucagon used. This module removes the fear with a slow, filmed, hands on walkthrough.
When glucagon is needed, and when it isn't
The decision point: unconscious, seizing, or unable to swallow safely.
GlucaGen HypoKit: full demonstration
Rhiannan opens a real kit and walks through mixing, drawing up and injecting, on camera, at real speed.
Availability in Australia
What's on the PBS here, what to ask your pharmacy, and how newer ready to use options differ overseas.
After glucagon
Recovery position, vomiting, carbs once they're awake, and always calling for review.
↓ Printable: glucagon step card for the fridge
4. Hyperglycaemia, ketones & DKA
The slower emergency people miss. Recognising when a high stops being routine and becomes a hospital visit.
High glucose vs. an emergency
Thirst, tiredness and frequent urination versus the red flags that need urgent care.
Ketones: testing and what the numbers mean
Blood versus urine ketones, and the thresholds that change your response.
DKA warning signs
Vomiting, stomach pain, deep or rapid breathing, sweet or acetone breath, drowsiness or confusion, call 000.
Sick day rules
Never stopping insulin, hydration, more frequent testing, and when to phone the diabetes team.
HHS: the one most people haven't heard of
Extreme highs and severe dehydration, more common in older people with type 2, and why it's a medical emergency.
↓ Printable: sick day plan template
5. CGM, pumps & the tech that beeps
Filmed with real devices. What the alarms mean, what continuous glucose monitor lag is, and what to do when a pump fails.
Continuous glucose monitor basics and lag
Why the screen runs 5 to 15 minutes behind, and why arrows matter more than numbers.
Alarms decoded
Urgent low soon, signal loss, monitor error, which need action and which need patience.
Insulin pumps and how they fail
Occlusions, site failure, cannula problems, and why a pump failure can become DKA quickly.
Real life demonstrations
Walkthroughs filmed with people who wear this tech every day, including continuous glucose monitor changes and site changes.
↓ Printable: pump failure decision card
6. When to escalate
A clear decision matrix so you never have to guess between waiting, phoning, or calling an ambulance.
The 000 list
Unconscious, seizure, unable to swallow, vomiting repeatedly, laboured breathing, confusion that doesn't lift.
Virtual ED and virtual urgent care
A useful port of call for urgent concerns that are not life threatening, and why it never replaces 000.
Same day versus routine
GP, diabetes educator or endocrinology, who to call and what to say.
What to tell the paramedics
Diabetes type, insulin, pump and CGM, last reading, what you've already given.
↓ Printable: escalation decision matrix
7. Language, stigma and myths
Words change outcomes. Person first language, why 'good' and 'bad' numbers do harm, and a dedicated section for health professionals.
Person first language
Why 'person with diabetes' matters more than people think, and how to change habits gently.
Numbers aren't grades
Dropping 'good', 'bad', 'compliant' and 'controlled' from the conversation.
For health professionals
How to talk respectfully with patients in clinic, openers, phrasing, and what patients say lands badly.
Myth busting first aid
Food rules, blame, insulin myths, and the dangerous ones that could cost someone their life.
↓ Printable: language swap card
8. Burnout & emotional first aid
Support aligned with NDSS guidance for the emotional side of diabetes, for the person living with it, and for the people around them.
Diabetes distress explained
Emotional exhaustion from 24/7 demands, not depression, and not personal failure.
Stopping diabetes policing
Scripts to replace 'did you take your insulin?' with questions that actually help.
Fear of hypos, especially at night
Practical, calming routines for partners and parents.
Talking to the care team
the DDS 2, PAID 5 and HFS II questionnaires as conversation starters, plus GP Mental Health Care Plans.
Carer burnout
Because the person supporting also gets tired, and that's allowed.
↓ Printable: what to say / what not to say sheet
9. Alcohol, exercise & delayed hypos
First aid for nights out, gym sessions and sport, including the hypo that arrives hours after everyone has gone to bed.
Drunk or hypo? The rule that keeps people alive
Slurred speech, stumbling, drowsiness and combativeness look the same either way, if in doubt, treat as a hypo, and never let someone sleep it off.
Why glucagon can fail after alcohol
The liver clears alcohol before it releases glucose, so glucagon may not work. Why an unresponsive person who has been drinking is always a 000 call.
Aerobic versus anaerobic: two very different curves
Running and swimming drop glucose during the session; weights and sprints spike it first and drop it 6 to 12 hours later, often overnight.
First aid on the field and in the gym
Pausing play, the Rule of 15 during activity, testing again before returning, and what coaches and gym partners should have on hand.
The bedtime safety buffer
Slower carbs plus protein after a big night or a hard session, extra checks, and keeping hypo treatment beside the bed.
Practical: building a night out and gym bag hypo plan with a friend or teammate.
↓ Printable: night out & training day first aid card
Finishing the course
- A 10 question scenario exam drawn from real situations
- Your household or workplace diabetes first aid plan, built step by step
- Certificate of completion
- The full fridge sheet bundle, every printable in one download
Ways to take it
Pricing is still being finalised, people on the mailing list get early access rates.
Self paced
For individuals, parents and partners. Entirely online.
Pricing to be announced
- All 9 modules online, video plus practical guides
- Every printable and fridge sheet
- Scenario questions with detailed feedback
- Certificate of completion
- 12 months of access, including updates
Self paced + live
For families who want to ask their own questions.
Pricing to be announced
- Everything in Self paced
- Four live online Q&A sessions with Rhiannan
- Recorded session library
- Bring a partner or fellow supporter at no extra cost
Workplace & school
For teams, classrooms and support services.
Quoted per group
- Group licence: multiple staff seats under one enrolment
- Team progress dashboard: see completed modules and send reminders
- Diabetes support policy template: adaptable workplace or school policy
- Manager and staff briefing session
- Optional onsite or online workshop
Questions
Is this accredited?
No. This is educational training designed to build practical confidence. It doesn't replace clinical advice, a diabetes management plan, or accredited first aid certification.
Do I need any medical background?
None at all. It's written for parents, partners, teachers, colleagues and friends. Health professionals are welcome too, module 7 is written with them in mind.
How long does it take?
You can go at your own pace, so you can work through it in whatever chunks suit you. Most people do one module a week.
When does it launch?
It's in production now. Get the free guide and you'll be first to know, with early access pricing when it opens.
What does the Workplace & School package include?
A group licence means one enrolment covers multiple staff. The team progress dashboard lets a manager see who has finished which module and send reminders. The diabetes support policy template is a document you can adapt for your workplace or school, covering roles, hypo and hyper response steps, emergency contacts, CGM and pump considerations, and escalation.
Get the free guide, hear first when the course opens
The Diabetes Distress & Burnout Guide arrives straight away, plus early access pricing when the full course opens.
Get the free guide & course updates