Last Updated on July 10, 2019 by PowersToTravel

I’ve been traveling for years with my Medtronics Paradigm pump.

I had always focused on how to get through airport security with the least inconvenience.  I had never focused on the risks to my device.

Recently I had reason to call Medtronics’ customer support with a travel-related question and was very surprised to find they told me to not wear it through the airport full body scanner (and the x-ray machines).  Their website contains poorly worded information regarding the do’s and don’ts of getting through security.

I consulted other pump manufacturers’ sites regarding the risks.  I found their sites to be as unclear.

Here are some recommendations by the pump manufacturers:

Accu-check

https://www.accu-chekinsulinpumps.com/documents/PumpUserGuide.pdf

Animas

http://www.animaseurope.eu/faq/metal-detector

Asante

http://www.snappump.com/Safety-Information

Medtronic

http://www.medtronicdiabetes.net/customer-support/traveling-with-an-insulin-pump-or-device

Tandem

http://www.tandemdiabetes.com/uploadedFiles/Content/_Configuration/Files/Manuals/tslim_User_Guide.pdf

Diabetic Travel Tip

 

My bottom line is that I do not want to risk my vacation due to a malfunctioning device.  This last time through I quickly removed the pump; it’s easy for me to do discretely while standing in line.  I handed it to the TSA agent and requested a hand inspection of it.  They did the swabbie-check and I went on my way through the body scanner.