Airport security scanners

airport scanners

by new to pace.... - 2024-07-12 10:36:53

Do not know if where you live things are different i can only speak to the US.  I just went though the scanner did mention i have a pacemaker.  The only thing they asked was could i raise my arms above my head.  Was able..  They said i had other things that popped up on their screen.  then i went though where i had metal in my body.  They said not those places.  (I thought did someone over night place other things in my body.)  anyway they asked if they could pat me down was told could be in private or standing there.  Since i had nothing to hide said right there was ok. 

Then i went to pick up my carry bag and was told it to had to be checked.  I figured out why ,  i had an extra hearing device and they had never since one i guess before.  On the way back everything went well no extra checks.

Nothing happens to your pacemaker, enjoy your trip.

new to pace

Airport Scanners

by crustyg - 2024-07-12 12:42:54

1 The archway: it's detecting ferro-magnetic materials, so belt buckles etc. will set it off.  All modern PMs/ICDs have had titanium cases for decades, so won't alert these scanners.  You may find that an alarm goes off: a polite 'Is that a random sample?' will usually be met with a smile and a 'yes' response.  If the only alarms were true positives, the staff would soon become bored and careless, so there's a fairly high random positive selection rate.

2 Depending on which airport you're using you may now find yourself directed to the whole body, millimetric wave scanner (you stand on the foot marks, hold your arms up above your head with elbows bent (more and more often holding your passport - at last!)).  This device looks under your clothing and the software generates areas for a very careful pat-down for any area that doesn't look right.  Happened to me recently in USA - and very intimate pat-down it was too.  No problem for PMs/ICDs which do not set off this type of scanner.

3 OR, you may find yourself facing a security operator with a hand-held RF-inductive wand.  As soon as you see this wand heading towards your body you firmly say 'pacemaker' and they'll move the wand away from your upper chest.  These devices *will* alarm with a PM/ICD AND will often stop your PM/ICD from pacing you correctly (the wand generates signals in your pacing leads that may look like activations or VF).

There's quite a lot of random chemical testing at airports now, but this is testing of your carry-on luggage, tech devices etc.

Millimetric scanners - they really *do* want you to empty pockets - even a handkerchief looks odd, and a lot of us used to carry our passports in a pocket.  In most International travel, separate a traveller from their passport and they instantly become a stateless person, so it's wise to *never* let go of your passport other than to hand it to officialdom.  So now they are more relaxed about travellers holding onto a passport in the millimetric scanner.  They'll check the document as you step out of the machine.

airport

by Tracey_E - 2024-07-13 13:05:34

1. newer pacers do not set these off, walk on through. No need to say anything

2. These are xray. They have no effect on a pacer.

3. Wands are a concentrated form of #1 and can interfere if held too close to the pacer. Airport security is well trained and will always do a pat down rather than use one of these on us. They're more likely to be a problem where security isnot well trained, like concerts and theme parks. I walk on through the regular detector and don't say anything.

Years ago, my previous pacers could not go through metal detectors so I had to ask for a pat down every time I flew. I regularly had to be polite but firm about keeping the wand below my waist at other security points but airports were always easy. Annoying and slow, but easy.