I feel like I’ve been beaten down by the man, but on a recent flight out of Washington Dulles (IAD), I simply refused to be subjected to unnecessary, wasteful, and theatrical full secondary screening because I am a Type 1 Diabetic and wear an insulin pump. I was dressed casually and just reached under my t-shirt (no need to flash anyone) and disconnected the pump via it’s handy little connector thingy. I placed a protective cover over the …well…. connector, and put it in the bin along with my toothpaste. I can’t for the life of me fathom what good it did to let them x-ray the pump, but I cleared security in something like 45 seconds from ID check to being on the other side. OK, I’m exaggerating slightly, but you get the drift.
I won’t be able to do that if I’m dressed in suit and tie…just too much stuff to tuck back in, but I think I’ll take the pump off from now on when casually dressed and transiting TSA at Dulles (and any other airport that has a habit of harassing insulin pumpers) just to avoid the unnecessary hassle. My offer to TSA to come to any training class in the DC area and let them meet an insulin pump user still stands.
And one more time: I still don’t get why an explosive trace detection swab of the pump, the wearer’s hands, and a quick visual aren’t enough of a security screen. Why go through my underwear and other belongings because I wear a pump? Off soapbox.
What kind of pump do you wear????I wear a Medtronic 723 and am told by Medtronic NOT to allow the pump to be x-rayed. They tell me that the pump can go through the scanner, but not the conveyor belt x-ray. I am arriving at Ronald Regan in DC in a couple of weeks and would like to have your response to this.