When you require medical equipment to help treat a medical condition, you can face some special challenges when traveling. It is possible for the equipment to set off metal detectors and lead to a delay in getting through security checkpoints. If you are planning to travel by airplane in the future, you need to prepare ahead of time for the possibility that your equipment trips the metal detector.
What Type of Equipment Can Trigger an Alert?
Some of the most obvious culprits that can trigger an alert from metal detectors include wheelchairs, walkers, and walking canes. Other less obvious triggers can include hearing aids, pacemakers, aneurysm clips, and artificial clips. If you use a nebulizer or carry diabetic supplies that a metal component, such as an insulin pump, you could face additional screening.
What Can You Do to Speed Up the Screening Process?
One of the smartest things that you can do when preparing for a trip is to review the security screening rules provided by the Transportation Security Administration. The rules area available on most airlines' websites and also the TSA's site. You can also contact the TSA 72 hours before traveling to request that a support specialist be available when you are ready for screening. The specialists are available for travelers with special needs who need physical assistance in order to get through screening.
If you have a pacemaker or other type of implanted device, you can take a copy of your medical records that details exactly what you have. You can provide it to the TSA screening agent as proof that you have an implanted device. Make sure that the medical record has your doctor's signature and contact information.
If you have any sharp medical equipment, such as a syringe, you need to alert the screener before he or she starts to search your bags. This can not only help avoid an injury to the screener but also prevent a delay in getting through the screening process.
You also have the right to ask for the screener to search you by hand as opposed to going through the metal detector. You can disclose the reasoning to the TSA screener, if necessary. The screener has to respect your privacy and keep the information that you share confidential.
Traveling with medical equipment can take some additional planning, but ensuring everything is in place before you arrive at the airport can help take some of the stress away. For more information, consider contacting a professional like those at Lincoln Mobility.
Share2 July 2015
In the past, when I thought about home health care, I pictured an elderly man or woman stuck in bed just waiting to take his or her final breath. What I have recently learned is that there are people of all ages that can benefit from home health care specialists. When my niece was diagnosed with a rare liver disorder, our family rallied and did everything possible to make the new way of life as easy for my sister as possible. We spent hours over at her house helping with the baby, but then, my sister said she didn't need us as much --She had hired a home care aid. I hope this helps you in the future.
