I was going thru the TSA scanner and as normal for me, ( Traveler every week) I have my hands swabbed and checked fro explosives.
Well the swab came Up RED and the army of agents decended on my saying they need to take me into a priovate screening area.
While in there they calibrated checked their machine and it was positive, they then did a re-swab of me and my pump and it came up Red again.
They wanted to me to then stip down, and when I ask why, they all clamed up and called for a supervisor that red me some US law of there right for a cavity search.
A second supervisor came in , and he had me wash my hands and then swabbed them and my pump separably and the pump was red and my hands green.
They then asked me to get a fresh insulin cartridge and they checked that and it was OK so they made me change it and then re-swabbed me in the normal way and I passed.
They confiscated in a sealed bag the old cartridge.
I was happy to get out of there (30 minutes) and glad that I pack extra cartriges for quick insertion.
The general agents actually did not know how to handle this case.
I once had my hands give a “positive” result. Later on I read that certain hand lotions can give a positive scan result. So I always wash my hands and wrists before going to the airport and out lotion back on after going through security.
OMG, I wonder how that happened! I know that the TSA almost certainly won't tell you what would make the scanner (or whatever) turn red, but I'm assuming you were leading an ordinary life before that happened. That makes it all the more scary! I'm glad you were prepared -- did you have the extra reservoir and infusion set in your carry on? What if they wouldn't let you get into your carry on? You could have been in deep doo-doo! :-( I will be careful when traveling about that!
You have to remember that TSA stands for Thousands Standing Around. Were this been me, I would have turned around and walked out of the screening area, rented a car and bee-lined it for my next appointment. Many things cause a false positive, from secretions both from and into the hand, poor quality testing supplies and equipment and a strange atmospheric condition. Nothing is for sure with them.
I no longer fly because, in part, of the gestapo attitude of the TSA. These people have no more than a high school education, and have no idea what explodes and what a flight danger really is. I am sorry they subjected you to such treatment. I hope they find a vial of insulin. No more, no less. You are entitled to be cleared in writing of your suspicion. I hope you get an apology from them. It isn't your fault that your pancreas, like mine, doesn't care.
This freakin scarey!!!! I don't think we will ever fly again because of the gustapo stuff you keep hearing about. My husband has growths on his lower legs that would look suspicious on TSA scanning and they'd have him take off his pants. He has a fistula in his arm and a chest catheter for dialysis access still in his chest. If they took off the bandages on the catheter to see it, they very easily would contamiate it and cause an infection to go to his heart. There is no way I will ever allow this to happen to him. We drove to Mass in Sept 26 hrs to get our grandson and bring him home when we were granted custody. Flying is too expensive, too many delays, and too much can go wrong for us. Sorry you had to go through that wallskev and glad you had extra cartridges with you.
