TSA full body scan and your pacemaker

I just got off the phone with the hands down best looking - and most talented - cardiac surgeon in northern Nevada. I wanted the straight skinny on Mr. Maven going through the new body scanners at the airport since he has a pacemaker, or going for the ‘grope’.

As I’ve blogged recently, I simply don’t have issues with either. I’ve been through the full body scan machines, and BFD. Mr. Maven has always been treated with respect over in ‘the special line’, as one with a medical appliance, AKA pacemaker. Again, BFD.

But there’s a lot of conflicting information and downright bullshit out there.

According to Dr. Handsome, unless you are truly “pacemaker dependent” then if you must go through the TSA full body scan, it isn’t likely to do any real ‘damage’ - it’s not going to somehow ‘fry’ the circuitry of your pacemaker or make it jump out of your chest. But the machines do emit electro-magnetic fields, and those can ‘suppress’ the pacemaker function for a fraction of a second or two or three. If you aren’t pacemaker dependent - your heart is simply beats too slow but can beat just fine on it’s own - then the worst that can happen would be that you feel ‘woosey’ or light headed. You might need to sit down. The pacemaker would continue with it’s normal functioning once clear of the body scanners and the electro-magnetic field.

The same thing could happen if a person wearing a pacer leans into the engine compartment of a running automobile. The alternator is creating a electro-magnetic field, and could cause a temporary woosey feeling.

This is not the same thing as going through with an internal defibrillator type of pacemaker. You shouldn’t take the chance. As in evil Dick ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Cheney should keep flying on the private jets and USAF military aircraft - all at taxpayer expense of course, and avoid any ‘security’ measures. The electro-magnetic suppression of the defibrillator could confuse the internal device into thinking that the heart isn’t beating, and therefore give the wearer an unnecessary ‘jolt’. For Dick this could be a good thing. For normal people, not so much.

Dr. Handsome recommended that Mr. Maven continue with the ‘pat down’ over in the special aisle, but if for some reason it was just the machines or nothing, then quickly go for it, but don’t make a habit out of it. Tell the TSA that you have a pacemaker.

If you have any real questions call the manufacturer of your pacer. The number is on the back of the card you carry in your wallet.

-maven

Full body airport scanners and radiation

According to the Unversity of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter (April 2010 issue) the radiation dose you are likely to receive while going through these new, high tech, security scanners is about the equivilant to flying for two minutes in a commercial jet at 30,000 ft.

According to Mr. Maven, who spent a considerable career at 30,000 ft and higher as a commercial airline captain, this isn’t a big deal. If folks aren’t concerned about the radiation at altitude, why be concerned while walking through the machine at the airport?

According to the American College of Radiology, you would have to walk through nearly 1,000 airport scans to get the same dose of radiation as you would from one chest x-ray.

It doesn’t sound to maven like this is anything to be concerned about, but I’m sure some people will be since it is so obviously the slippery slope to the rampant socialism envisioned by Obama, Reid and Pelosi.

Snort.