I’m traveling for the first time since getting my CGM and insulin. Is it safe to go through all the scanning technology at the airport or should I request the pat down/wand? Don’t want it to fry my transmitter.
Hi Kim @Cutabove1, generally yes. Please look at the Used Manual for YOUR CGM and pump for specifics. Some scanners are OK, others are not.
There are “strings” on here that have lots of advice; use the search tool and read them.
I found a bunch of helpful replies! Thanks for letting me know about the search feature, @Dennis!
Where is the “search tool”? I’d like to find out more about traveling with my omnipod pump and a CGM.
The Dex manual says no scanners, but X-ray is ok. No mention of metal detectors. But I have T1 traveler friends who go thru all the machines with no problem. Omnipod says ok to everything but scanners. What to do?
Thanks
@wings88 hi Joy
Please look below, the “search tool” is a magnifying glass icon that lets you search Type One Nation
I put a big red arrow pointing to it. Click it (not the picture, but the one at the top right side of your screen) and you can do a search.
TSA has new devices and new technology. The body “scanner” is also a scatter x-ray. It will detect whatever is under your clothes or stuck/glued to your body and then you’ll have to get a “metal detector” and most likely, a “pat-down”.
A metal detector poses no risk to CGM or pump electronics. It is an antenna that detects the presence of “Ferris”, a common metal, and other common metal elements.
With a CGM and a POD, your best bet is to tell them and request a pat down/metal detector (metal hand scanner). You will not get through a body scanner wearing these devices so you’ll have to get one anyway.
I don’t always follow the rules set out by pump/CGM because I am too much in a rush and my equipment is usually under warranty. My pump has been x-ray scanned and metal detected probably 100 times in 3 years. With business trips 1x to 2x per month I just don’t have time for a pat down, so I don’t wear a cgm to the airport, and I remove my pump (it’s not a POD) and put everything through the baggage x-ray. I know… what a rebel,
Aha! Thanks for taking the time to post the big red arrow, Joe. Will explore.
One question: When you say I won’t get thru the body scanner, I’m assuming that’s because it detects the CGM and Pod that are stuck to me, not because it will fry the equipment, right? I did request a patdown for everything last time I went overseas. Frankfurt was fine; Naples refused until I called for a supervisor. Sigh.
Like your idea of disconnecting everything, but complicated with a pod. Still, the “no tubing” thing is worth it for me (you’re not a rebel–at least not in this instance!–just practical).
Thanks again,
Joy
Hi Joy,
it is my hypothesis, tested numerous times at airports all over the world, that the body scanner as well as the TSA baggage X-ray and hand metal scanners have no affect on pens, insulin, pumps, pods, meters, or CGM. I realize this is off-label from the manufacturers recommendations, it’s just my real life experience.
Yes the body scanner will return a “fail” where your pod is stuck to you and where your CGM transmitter is stuck to you. This fail will require TSA or in-country equivalent, to examine you. The exam might be pat down, and/or metal hand scanner, or a back-room “show me”.
I have found it’s better to declare “Medical equipment” than it is for them to find it and then search you.
The only hard time I ever received was in Tokyo, I had to unpack all of my pump supplies and sharps, and I thought it was gong to be an issue until they saw my insulin bottle and recognized what (and why) I had all the stuff.
If you are afraid of the baggage x-ray somehow affecting your supplies, then pack all pump and sensitive supplies separately, tell them it’s medical and no x-ray, and they will hand search them and (in the USA) do a chem-wipe looking for explosives. They may metal detect.
Cheers, safe and happy travel!
Member with T1D February 19
wings88:
One question: When you say I won’t get thru the body scanner, I’m assuming that’s because it detects the CGM and Pod that are stuck to me, not because it will fry the equipment, right? I did request a patdown for everything last time I went overseas. Frankfurt was fine; Naples refused until I called for a supervisor.
Hi Joy,
it is my hypothesis, tested numerous times at airports all over the world, that the body scanner as well as the TSA baggage X-ray and hand metal scanners have no affect on pens, insulin, pumps, pods, meters, or CGM. I realize this is off-label from the manufacturers recommendations, it’s just my real life experience.
Yes the body scanner will return a “fail” where your pod is stuck to you and where your CGM transmitter is stuck to you. This fail will require TSA or in-country equivalent, to examine you. The exam might be pat down, and/or metal hand scanner, or a back-room “show me”.
I have found it’s better to declare “Medical equipment” than it is for them to find it and then search you.
The only hard time I ever received was in Tokyo, I had to unpack all of my pump supplies and sharps, and I thought it was gong to be an issue until they saw my insulin bottle and recognized what (and why) I had all the stuff.
If you are afraid of the baggage x-ray somehow affecting your supplies, then pack all pump and sensitive supplies separately, tell them it’s medical and no x-ray, and they will hand search them and (in the USA) do a chem-wipe looking for explosives. They may metal detect.
Cheers, safe and happy travel!
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[Joy](https://forum.jdrf.org/u/wings88) February 19Aha! Thanks for taking the time to post the big red arrow, Joe. Will explore. One question: When you say I won’t get thru the body scanner, I’m assuming that’s because it detects the CGM and Pod that are stuck to me, not because it will fry the equipment, right? I did request a patdown for every…
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Haven’t had a problem the times I have gone through the scanning machine. I have a pump and a CGM.
Roger