Just wanted to share what happened on our recent trip to England with my 11 yr old. Going through security was easy in the US but we did have a little hiccup on our way back at Heathrow. My son's bag contained his usual diabetes supplies including a couple of juice boxes. They were slightly bigger than the usual ones we carry as we had purchased these in the UK. Well, unfortunately these caused his bag to be flagged for extra screening. At Heathrow, when your bag needs to be re-screened it automatically goes down a different 'shoot' after the scanner and you have to wait until one of the agents is available to screen it. While we were waiting (about 5 minutes) my son announced he felt low. I could not find any glucose/candy in my bag (which is unusual). My son goes downhill quickly when he actually feels 'lows' and so I knew I had to get him sugar quickly. I explained to the agent that I needed his bag but they said I would have to wait until he was finished with the bag he was screening in front of us. I told them it contained medical supplies and he needed them immediately. He then called for his supervisor who I had to explain everything to again. I told them I had a letter from his doctor, which the supervisor asked for. I scrambled to find it and they eventually pulled my son's bag forward. But then, before I could get into it, they had to swab all of the zippers and they had to do all the unpacking. It seemed to be going painfully slow and I could see my son getting agitated. When they pulled the offending juice boxes out, they said that they would need to be confiscated but they did let me grab one so my son could drink it. What I learned from this experience is that my son should ALWAYS have a source of glucose in his pocket when traveling because you never know when he could be separated from his supplies (or me), even for a few minutes!
We had the exact same problem. We traveled to Holland to see my husband's family. We had no problem with USA security, but security in Holland was a nightmare. My son was 2 at the time. They tried to confiscate our carry on bag with diabetes supplies, even though we had our medical letter from the endo. My husband just kept saying in Dutch that if we didn't have the bag our baby son would die. They also wanted to hand search my son without gloves which I refused as well. He couldn't go through the scanner more because of his age, and the agent was just using bare hands on everyone with no gloves or sanitizing. I just keep saying in English baby very sick over and over. They told us they would deny us boarding, and then finally a supervisor got involved. He just used a wand on my son, approved our carry on bag, and we went through. It seemed to me the USA was more up to speed on procedures for people with medical conditions. I also now carry sanitizer and gloves within easy access while traveling.
My sympathies. Having just flown through Heathrow the bags selected for screening are definitely stuck for quite awhile. Also recently, my daughter (who doesn't have diabetes) was flying home at Newark airport. She was in the security line and her bag went through but she was waiting to go through the screen. There was suddenly a security concern in the terminal and they shut down security. They WOULD NOT give people back their bags. So she was on one side of the machine and her bag was on the other. No cell phone, no medical supplies if she had needed it. Unfortunately, the screeners are getting more and more specific about telling people to take everything out of your pockets. So I'm not sure the best answer for your son other than to drink some juice before getting in the line and bolus afterwards if needed.
How awful for you - sounds a lot worse than our situation. We have traveled a lot since my son's diagnosis and have not ever had trouble with getting his supplies on board but his bag often required extra screening. During our recent travel, I realize that they were just following protocol and it makes perfect sense that you cannot access your bags until after the re-screening. They could improve on the time it took though!
Now that could be a huge problem for someone with T1D!! We always feel somewhat obligated to rush through security as soon as we arrive at the airport, especially since I know it could take some time. However, remembering to check my son's BG before we do so, is something we should get into the habit of doing so that he can have extra carbs if needed. I would definitely prefer that he runs a little high rather than low in case he is separated from his PDM for any length of time.
I fly about four times a year, although most of the time it is in the U.S. However, I never am in an airport without a roll of glucose tablets in my purse or pocket. My vehicles also always have glucose tabs in the glove compartment or readily available to me when I drive. You can get glucose tabs at almost any drug store, and airports do not seem to have a problem with them since they are not liquid.