Originally Posted by
chollie
(bolding mine Interesting that we've come full circle on the visual. Remember the woman with pierced nipples who was willing to allow the TSO to visually resolve the alarm but was told SOP didn't allow that?
Yes, I understand that 'granny in the wheelchair' can't be exempt. Just want to be clear that there's a big difference between wanding granny and doing a full, open-palm frisk over every part of her body while she's in the wheelchair. And I assume it will mean that some post-surgery pax will have to remove bulky dressings for visual inspection if the alternative would be pressure that might rupture an incision or cause undue pain. And I understand that infants and toddlers who can't assume and hold the position for the scan will have to be subjected to a frisk because a diaper is just as likely to be used to conceal something as a grown man's underpants or a woman's bra. Now, more than ever, it would be great to think there will be some sort of screening so that only TSO's with at least a modicum of respect for the pax will be allowed and that complaints of invasive or rough handling will be tracked and acted on, regardless of intent, but that's probably too much to hope for. After all, if you receive an unusual number of complaints about rough handling against a particular TSO, aren't you willing to give the pax the benefit of a doubt and assume that perhaps the TSO just doesn't know his/her own strength?
When you train, do you get hands-on training and feedback of your technique, or do you just watch videos and demos? (I ask because I know a doctor whose practice involves some rather invasive manual probing. Her class initially demo'd and practiced on a dummy before doing it on volunteers and they all were subjected to the same exam themselves so they really had a sense of what it should be like, and what it should not feel like.)
There will always be situations that require an STSO on the checkpoint to make a call, whether it is covered by SOP or something that was not necessarily taken into account by the SOP - and (at least in my experience) common sense rules that situation.
I have the same wishes you do in the case of a specific TSO having complaints, at a minimum, they need to be counselled on proper procedure and that can actually be done tactfully at the start. I am certain that there are some of us (the woman tells me I am "heavy handed", so I have to take great care in dealing with folks that fall into the category we have been discussing, and passengers in general for that matter) that could benefit from what you mention. The thing I hope everyone (TSOs included) gets is that just because someone has an injury or a disability or something that requires extra screening of any kind - is not extra work or a problem or something to be upset about, it is one of the reasons we are here and get the training we do. They have just as much right to travel as I do, and should be afforded the same courtesy and professionalism that I would get. In the case that any passenger doesn't get professional service, they should forward complaints up the chain.
The training I have recieved has been hands on, book training, lecture (over and over and over). One good aspect of that practicing with other TSOs is it gives you the chance to physically do what is expected of you repeatedly away from the checkpoint, it also allows automatic critique of the method by someone else that knows what is going on. Our training started my first day, and has been ongoing since then. We have some of the best training, and MOST training I have had since I left the Army (and anyone that has been in the military understands how constant that is).
I will admit that I have a more vested interest in folks with disabilities because of family members that had them, but that is personal. I also am "too nice" according to most of the people that are important in my life, there opinion is that I am something of an anomoly in that respect (I take the "more flies with honey" adage a bit too far I guess).