Upcoming Sports Event

You will not be their first

by IAN MC - 2017-02-14 13:17:00

H Tom :   With over 4 million of us with pacemakers you will not be the first they have processed

It will be no different to an airport; Point at your collar-bone, say " pacemaker"  and you will be guided round the side of the metal detector.  If they use an electronic wand they should not put it directly on the PM site . In my experience , they always seem to know this.

If they do anything different you will still survive

Enjoy the sporting event

Ian

Anticipate no problems

by dumb - 2017-02-14 14:03:49

Security will be doing a big business with pacemakers, just show your card or point to your device. No big deal, the underwire in my bra and/or my hairpins cause more problems than my CRT.

security

by Cabg Patch - 2017-02-14 16:57:25

I've gone through numerous security screening systems, including airport and court house and set off the alarm one time in 10 years. No big deal, told them I have an ICD and let them wand me quickly and good to go. This stuff is overplayed by people. My suggestion do what you're comfortable with, but leave your gun at home.

Security no problem

by LondonAndy - 2017-02-14 19:33:54

I've had a pacemaker for 2.5 years now, (and am 100% paced) and although I always carry my ID I have never had to show it - just done the pointing thing that Ian MC says above.  And after about a year I don't even bother to do that now - I just walk through without saying anything like non-pacemaker people do.  I haven't set an alarm off or anything, and no ill effects.

First time I walked through I talked about it to the security guard at the UK's second busiest airport, saying something like "I have a pacemaker but I would like to walk through as I think it will be fine".  That way he would be aware of why I had a problem if anything happened, and although he offered to do the wand thing instead, he let me walk through and said someone from a pacemaker manufacturing company makes a point of walking through and said only 1 in 4 million people would notice the effect of the arch on their pacemaker, and that would only be temporary - moving away from the arch would stop any interference. 

So relax, and enjoy the event!

metal detectors

by Tracey_E - 2017-02-15 13:14:51

I used to get a pat down instead but newer ones are made with different alloys and unlikely to set it off so my doctor said there's no longer a need to avoid them. I walk on through now, no issues so far. In the year I've had this one I've been to concerts, government buildings, cruise ships and the airport. 

Remember when....

by Lurch - 2017-02-15 16:00:41

Remember when microwave ovens in convenience stores had a warning for pacemaker owners?  Well, we don't see those anymore.  The technology has improved and the microwaves no longer pose an issue.  Warning labels and such are slow to disappear when the technology improves because it takes about ten years to make sure newer technology has reached everyone.  I always believed that this is the situation with metal detectors.  The technology of both pacemakers and metal detectors have evolved, but warnings have not caught up yet!.

Give you an example from my personal experiences.  I served in police services for 40 years.  Much earlier in my career I was a Detective and had to go to our local airport to grab a bad guy that was trying to catch a fight out of town.  As a Detective in Florida we very rarely wore jackets, so we carried our firearms in a holster on our ankle.  I talked to the Security Personnel at the airport and explained that my guy was waiting in a boarding area and we wanted to go get him.  Airports had only been using metal detectors for about 5 - 8 years.  As I approached the detector, I turned to the Security guy with me and told him I had a .38 cal revolver on my ankle.  He told me not to worry, the metail detector would not pick it up.  Seems in the early days the detector did not go all the way to the floor, otherwise the metal rebar in the concrete floors would set it off constantly!  See, techonology improves!