I’m hoping to get started with the pod in a few weeks and I have found some great information on this site. One question I haven’t seen addressed is how any of you who travel often approach airport security with the Omnipod. Does the pod set off the mag or is there not enough metal in it to be detected? I travel on business fairly regularly and have never been questioned about insulin, pens, etc. I don’t even bother putting the insulin in the Ziploc baggie anymore. I usually zip through security pretty quickly and I’m not thrilled about the prospect of being wanded or interrogated about the pod when I’m trying to catch a flight.
Hey, I went through one airport in Raleigh, NC and declared that I have insulin in a cooler with me, but I didn’t say that I had an omnipod, or even show them. I went right through. When traveling through Las Vegas, they checked the cooler and ice packs. I never mentioned the pod or showed them, and went through just fine.
I hope this helps, as for random searches, I don’t think they would be worried…
-Daniel
We went to Mexico twice this summer and had no problems going through security with the OmniPod. I put the PDM in my diaper bag (my son is 2.5 years old & uses the pod) and they didn’t even take it out to look at it. I did tell them he was a type 1 diabetic and they looked more closely at the backup syringes than anything else.
Don’t worry, I doubt they will even notice.
Happy travels!
Thanks Daniel and Susan. Good information which leads to my next question. Since there is a wireless communication link between the pod and PDM, is it actually legal to use on Omnipod on a plane?
Hi -
I don’t know if it’s legal or not but we’ve used it in the air to both check BG and also to bolus. I would imagine that the radio wave is so weak (we all know that, especially those of us with toddlers who are always running away from us as we try to bolus…:+) that it couldn’t interfere with anything. I believe it’s range is something like 2 feet. It would be an interesting question to pose to the TSA security folks, however, given the fact that most of them are clueless about Type 1 diabetes, I don’t think I would even go there. You could cause more trouble for yourself than it’s worth.
The only issue we’ve ever had was when we were coming back from Mexico through Phx with bringing liquids on the airplane (specifically, milk for my son, we use it to treat his lows.) The milk was one of those sealed boxes. The security guy tried to confiscate the milk so I had to pull out my drs letters, etc. Even that wouldn’t convince him that the milk was a medical need so I pitched a fit and had them call the boss. When I explained that due to all the cutbacks, many airlines, including the plane we were about to board, no longer carry milk and that we use it to treat lows, they finally let us through. It was a real pain but I think sometimes, you just have to fight it out with them.
That said, it was the only time we were ever questioned. I don’t even mention diabetes when we go through airport security. Only once were we questioned by a TSA scanner employee because I think he saw the syringes that I was carrying (I had about 200 with me since we were going to be gone for 2 weeks). When I told them my son was a Type 1 insulin dependent diabetic, they waved us through. You would think that with all the flying we do, there would be more questions from airport security but I don’t think diabetes supplies fall into their list of scary things they are trained to be looking for.
I travel often for business. I am also an amputee, so I always alert the security screeners that I will be setting off the walk-through system. I am then required to undergo 'special" screening, and the hand-wand they use always alerts to the OmniPod. So, I always allow an extra 20 minutes for going through screening. I can’t address whether the Omnipod alone will set off the sensor of the wlk-through system.
I fly out of Memphis and they freaked out they what not know what was in the pod they had to call the Omnipod to ask if any thing else could be put in side the pod. When i left philly they could care less what it was