Airport Security

I have had a pacemaker for around seven years and have usually had pat down security checks at airports. Security personnel at concerts have advised me several times that it is safe for me to pass through their airport style security gates but I have always refused and requested a pat down instead ...just wondering if advances in security technology have made security equipment safe or....should I continue to request pat down ?

5 Comments

airport security

by new to pace.... - 2024-09-10 15:59:57

You can go though security now it is safer.  No need for pat down. Since i sometimes forget to take something out of my pocket. Will get the pat down.

new to pace

Airport security

by Selwyn - 2024-09-10 16:35:48

The new X-ray gates are safe and save the pat down.

The new metal detector gates are safe if you don't linger within the gateway. 

The hand held wands are not that safe. Try to avoid.

Always carry your PM  international card. Every so often someone insists on seeing this.

I don’t care what they say

by Pixee86 - 2024-09-10 17:53:00

No matter where I go if there is a metal detector I tell them I can not and will not walk through it even if they say it's safe. I always request pat down or they look at my card and just let me keep walking. There have been so many advances in technology but at the same time there are still bugs in technology.

I walk through

by Tracey_E - 2024-09-10 21:58:05

The alloys they use in the devices do not set off the metal detectors. 

The devices are shielded and are not affected by the metal detectors.

The 3D scanners are xray, so not metal detectors at all. 

Wands only below the waist.

I never stop and say anything anywhere now - airports all around the world, cruise terminals, government buildings, courthouses, concerts, amusement parks.

I pace every beat, have been paced for 30 years, never once had an issue. Live your life and don't worry about security scanners. 

Article

by piglet22 - 2024-09-11 10:56:43

Here's a link to full body scanners

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_body_scanner

X-ray doses and risks are well known and conventional X-rays don't affect pacemakers.

I would wonder about the millimetre RF types unless I was specifically told that it was safe with devices. It works at very high frequencies, over 30-GHz which is ten times higher than than the 2.4 or 5 GHz that we are all exposed to every day - WiFi etc.

There is evidence that high power emmisions can cause heating damage. These very high frequencies are similar to those used for microwave ovens.

Though probably safe, I think I would want some reasurance before going through one.

You know you're wired when...

Jerry & The Pacemakers is your favorite band.

Member Quotes

In fact after the final "tweaks" of my pacemaker programming at the one year check up it is working so well that I forget I have it.