Had my first experience today ......

word to the wise

by Tracey_E - 2019-11-25 10:53:37

(jealous about Hamilton! Was it amazing??)

You can walk right on through, metal detectors won't hurt us if we have a newer device. The wands are actually potentially more problematic than walking through because it's more concentrated. They should only wand us below the waist but there have been times I didn't bother saying anything and nothing happened. I was at a show last week and they were wanding everyone, I was bringing up the rear of a big group, my hands were full trying to open my purse for them to inspect without spilling my wine, so I smiled and let the guy wand me.

People working at theaters, parks, concerts generally are not at all well trained and want to use the wand when we don't walk through. They almost never do pat downs. Usually just saying the word pacemaker is enough to get them afraid to have their equipment near us. Every once in a while you get one who is not so well trained and determined to use the wand. Easiest to not say anything and walk on through. TSA knows better, they will never wand us, always pat down. But again, that was the old days. Newer pacers are made with an alloy that does not set it off, and they are shielded well enough that the detectors don't affect the pacer.  

The problem isn't....

by Theknotguy - 2019-11-25 12:48:57

The problem isn't the guy who follows the rules, but the guy who doesn't.  That's the one for which you have to be prepared.  

Right after I got my pacemaker I had read the 10 item list my hospital gave me about pacemakers.  Found out later four items on the list were completely wrong and six items were partially wrong.  Wasn't sure after I left the hospital what I needed to be concerned about.  Then the heart rehab center where I stayed didn't want me to even be in a room with a microwave oven.  So, at first, was really confused about what I could or couldn't do. 

Attended the State Fair.  Ran into the State Highway Patrol.  They have the security check point with the metal detector.  Told 'em I had a pacemaker but they insisted I go through it.  State Highway Patrol is known for being hard to deal with.  Told 'em if I had any problems I'd be really ticked.  Was he ready for the situation?  Answer was yes.  So I walked through.  No problems, zilch, nada, nothing.  

Volunteer at a hospital. Have to take patients through a metal detector on the way into the ER.  Post State Fair wasn't concerned about it.  Now I go through the metal detector five or six times a day pushing patients into the ER.  No problems with the pacemaker.  

Was at the London Eye in London, England, UK.  Guy walked up behind me and ran a wand over my pacemaker.  Didn't say anything but I won't repeat what I was thinking.  Turns out some of the Brits don't like Americans and are willing to try to start a fight.  Anyway...   No problems, zilch, nada, nothing.

Was at the mall.  Big box store had their door security ramped up.  If you took a coat off the rack next to the door the security alarm would go off immediately. Figured it would be a good test for the pacemaker.  Would it bother the pacemaker or would it trip the alarm?  Handed all my packages to my spouse, and walked through the security system.  No problems, zilch, nada, nothing.  I don't worry about store alarms anymore.  

Volunteer at a charity woodshop.  Got tired drilling holes and started using my shoulder to push the drill through.  Completely forgot about my pacemaker and I was using my shoulder with the pacemaker to drill the holes.  My pacemaker was lying on top of a running 110 volt power drill.  No problems, zilch, nada, nothing.  Did, however, stop using that shoulder to drill holes.  

Point of all this is that the newer pacemakers have better shielding and aren't as sensitive to outside EMF.  So if you run into some people who are being hard to deal with, I wouldn't worry about starting a fight as chances are, nothing was going to happen anyway.  

Hope your adjustment to the pacemaker goes well. 
 

All good

by Pacer2019 - 2019-11-25 13:46:46

Great input!  Hamilton was pretty good .  I'm not a big musical person and it includes 34 songs ...  

I think it's great that it can cause people to dig deeper into historical matters like depicted. 
Hamilton of course was the primary contributor to the a Federalists Papers which were articles and essay he and Madison. 
 

tickets were a gift to me but I heard up to show time people were paying 1200 a pop ! 
I was thankful to get to go and see what all the fuss is about !