Mike,

I am a type I, insulin dependent diabetic. While it may not be recommended, I successfully keep a backup kit (needles, alcohol prep pads, and 1 vial of insulin) in my desk drawer at the office. In general, though, my excess insulin stays in the fridge at home.

However, I am guessing your inquiry is in regards to keeping the excess insulin supply as cool as possible in the event of a power outage. This is a difficult question and one I have thought about off and on over the years. A few possible solutions I have considered include:

- Generator to keep the fridge going
- Keep the insulin cool in a cooler - make sure the insulin does not freeze; one of the coolers with a tray in it might be best to keep it from coming in direct contact with the ice; of course this relys on having a source for ice which may not be possible in the event of a widespread outage
- If you are close to a running stream or river, place the insulin in a waterproof case and place the case in the running river - be sure it is well anchored and easy to retrieve; the running water over the case should keep it cool enough

To be honest, though, as I mentioned before my backup supply at the office hasn't seemed to be affected by not being refrigerated (to be fair it is in at least a somewhat temperature controlled environment at the office). Likewise, the vial I use, which travels with me wherever I go, does not seem to be affected either (but it is used up fairly quickly). As long as you keep it from extremes of heat and cold, short term it should be ok from my personal experience. Longer term, there are much bigger concerns. As always, YMMV