Hello everyone
I’m new here so I hope my quistion came to the right section
I’m palnning to travel next month and this is my first time to get on an airplane with the pump my concern is how the airports deal with the devise and what should I do when I reach the check points at the airport
I am a little bit worried that they don’t recognize it and let me take it off or make a trouble for me although I have 2 medical reports to back me up but still concerned
Sorry again if this topic is on the wrong place
hi Sana! You don’t say if your travel is international or domestic…I’ve not traveled internationally since going on the pump, but my domestic check in has never been a problem. I take the pump off and put it in the plastic tub with my carry on and I let the person at the end of the xray machine know it’s in the tub. I don’t know if the metal detector has magnets or not but I try not to get anywhere near that machine with my pump…if you have a pump you cannot detach from your body, call the airline prior to your departure to find out what the check in protocol might be…I do know from experience a strong magnet near my pump affects the device settings so checking with your pump supplier and/or CDE before your trip will help avoid any equipment malfunction. My CDE provided a Lantus pen and Humalog pen with needles, as well as dosing directions for back up treatment the last time I traveled just in case the pump failed while I was away from home…hope your travel experiences are all positive!
I travel domestic and international a lot. I have a pump and a CGM. The metal detector will not pick up my medtronic pump so I just leave it on and don’t mention it to the TSA. Never had a problem. This, however only works with the old school metal detectors which are now only in the TSA pre-check line. The new put-your-hands-in-the-air scanners will pick up the pump so you need to either
A: tell the TSA “I have an insulin pump and would like to Opt Out”- They will walk you around the scanners and give you a hand search- its no big deal but does take longer. or
B: take the pump off and put it in your bag to go through the bag scanner and then you walk through the human scanner as normal.
Either way works fine. It’s your preference. As a frequent flyer I have TSA pre-check so I get the old school metal detector line and just walk through it. The TSA is well aware of insulin pumps and I’ve never once found a TSA agent who was surprised or confused by my having one so even if you forget all of this, the TSA will roll with it and probably just make you take it off and circle back through.
I wear an Omnipod “pod”, and have never had any issues. I always just tell them about it, they check it out, and I’m on my way.
Same with the Dexcom G5 sensor.
Good to hear that
I hope all will go well
Thanks for sharing
I am flying international
I will contact Medtronics for support regarding this issue ans will follow your advise and contacr the airpines for guidance
Thanks a lot
I would take it off and put it through the scanner but the proplem is that the hospital told me that going through a scanner will damage the devise and that’s why I am seeking alternative
The airport in my city has an old school scanner so it would not be a proplem because it will not deduct it but I’m going to Hong Kong and has not idea what the airport system there
I’ve flown through Hong Kong. I’m pretty sure they only had metal detectors for scanning people. The US is one of few countries that use anything beyond metal detectors. The bag scanners on the conveyer belt are basically CT scanners Check Your Bags: CT Scanners - How Airport Security Works | HowStuffWorks
While its true that X-rays are not awesome for anything electronic, It’s not going to be an issue unless you do it many, many times a year. I’ve definitely run my Medtronic pump (and my phone and computer and watch and kindle) through those scanners quite a few times over the years and never noticed an issue.
I think the Hospital was cautioning you against the newer, person scanners and not the bag scanners.
Also English is widely spoken in Hong Kong so airport security will understand if you show them your pump and explain the situation.
That’s very reliefing
Hope everything will go smoothly for me too
Thanks for sharing
The old school scanner (metal detectors) can be set to different sensitivities, I think. I have occasionally had my pump set off the alarm. Don’t count on them not knowing it’s there. I’ve never had a problem explaining what it is and getting through security (domestic travel only, though)
Zardoz: Sorry, but I don’t think your response to the question is correct. First, CT scanners use Xrays. Next, any Xray with sufficient energy can/might damage your electronics. The damage occurs in the stored program. The energy can cause a memory cell to change state. It’s a random event and depends on the energy level in the Xray and the duration of the exposure. That’s why Medtronics strongly recommends that you don’t expose your pump/cgm to Xrays, or any other radiation or energy field that could cause this random event to occur. Metal detectors have a very low energy field. They’re OK. Full body scanners have higher energy radiation similar to the Xray machines but at millimeter wavelengths. There’s some uncertainty as to whether millimeter wave energy at the levels of the full body scaners can upset the electronics, but Medtronics recommends not exposing your devices to that possibility. Further, it would be very difficult to determine if your device was damaged unless you could fully test all of its functions and stored programs completely after the event. I don’t want to take the chance of an unknown problem causing some nasty problem.with my pump/cgm. I don’t expose my pump/cgm to either the luggage scanning Xrays or the full body scanners.
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Sorry, but taking the pump off is ABSOLUTELY NOT RECOMMENDED. All the pump manufacturers specifically state that it should not go through the carry on baggage X-ray machine. The magnetic walk through detectors are perfectly safe. You can walk through with the pump attached. The full body scanners (the rotating scanner) is a bit more problematical. The manufacturers recommend that you do not take the pump in these but recommend a pat down and swab of the pump. However, I have been through these without a problem.
I have flown dozens of times with a pump on UK, European, International and US flights. My pump always sets off the walk through detector, but the security staff are used to dealing with pumps, so except for having to allow an extra 10 mins to get through security, there are no problems.
Joel
I’ve been wearing a pump for about 6 years and before that used pens. I travel regularly all round the world and frankly the pump has never really been an issue. I always leave it on, on the grounds that the electromagnetic fields in the WTMD and hands-up scanners are much lower than in the X-ray machines. The pumps are all cleared by manufacturers to go through that way. About 50% of the time, they alarm and you’ll get a secondary scan, usually just in front of the main scanner. Sometimes it’s a pat-down (note in Scandinavia the pat-down may be carried out by someone of the opposite sex, but they will change if you ask), sometimes a wanding, and there’s usually an explosive swab. It has never taken more than an extra minute or two.
Even in countries where there was difficulty communicating (a small domestic airport in Russia springs to mind), I got through pretty smoothly. As an anecdote I asked a Russian-speaking friend what an insulin pump was in Russian. His explanation made it sound like an imported word and that any Russian ought to understand the words “insulin pump”. China has always been very simple, with courteous staff who make plenty of effort to understand.
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