Metal rods in back - going through Security?
 

Hello all. In July, I'll be taking my 15-year old half sister on vacation, on her first ever airplane flight. Last year, she had surgery and now has some metal rods implanted in her back. Her mother has told me she'll have documentation from the hospital explaining about the metal inside her.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing as relates to the TSA? What is the best procedure? Do we tell someone before she goes through the metal detector? Or do we let her go through first, and then start trying to explain it after it's gone off? If we do tell someone, who? The first TSA rep, who looks at our boarding pass? Or the one on the other side of the metal detector, before she walks through?

After they've been informed, what can she/we expect to have happen? She's 15 - is she really going to have to be patted down by a TSA rep? Is there a chance they're going to need to do a more invasive search than that?

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Best advice I can tell you is to let the officer working the metal detector that she will most likely alarm the WTMD because of the rods. At that point if she alarms then she will go into secondary screening. As with other medical devices (metal knees, replacement hips, etc), there will be screening done with a hand held metal detector and a pat down done by a female officer.

TSA ignores any and all paperwork from her doctor. Don't bother to bring it with you. When she alarms, TSA will run her through the hand held metal detector. When she alarms with that she will get patted down. If the TSO patting her down doesn't like what she feels, it might get escalated from there. Do not allow the TSO to publicly strip your sister (it has happened). You might ask for a private screening so as to avoid some of the above. If your sister feels that the TSO went too far, then file a complaint with the airport police and TSA.

This is consistent with my experience with my replacement knee. All the documentation in the world won't help one bit. I do always tell them about the knee as I am about to enter the WTMD, just so they won't be too 'alarmed' by the alarm. But I get the full treatment every time, and for me that's about 80 flights a year.

And I soo wish that if you brought documentation, we wouldn't have to wand/patdown everyone who has medical implants, such as metal rods, metal knees, or whatever.

However, we should all know by now that not everyone is telling the truth, especially the guy the other day at my airport who had metal knees. Oh, and a knife strapped to his leg. Whoops, forgot about that!

When you approach the metal detector, tell the TSO that your sister has metal rods, and that she will alarm. From there, the TSO should tell the other TSO that she has metal rods. There is communication between the TSO at the mag and the TSO who's going to the do the screening. We're trying to help each other, too. Not keep secrets from each other. And even if they don't communicate, you can always tell her. And like Angrymiller says, if your sister feels uncomfortable of being screened in public, just ask for a private screening.

Okay, fair enough.


That's confusing. You say that there's no reason to believe a passenger, yet you say that's what should be done?

Well, it would be rather silly to tell the TSO "Well, you won't believe me anyways, so i'm just not going to telll you what I have."

LOL.

But you just said that they're not going to believe the passenger anyway, so why bother?

And I have heard one passenger say that "you're not going to believe me anyway" line before. I think it was in response to asking if there was any sharp items in the bag (which is a dumb question in the first place).

Well ... I suppose it shows a willingness to cooperate, and an understanding of the expectation of what's to come.

I mean, all (I think) senseker is suggesting is saying "I'm going to set off the metal detector and will need secondary screening." There's no question of whether or not to trust the passenger; the passenger is still going to walk through the WTMD and prove the statement true. But stating so ahead of time may establish that the passenger understands the procedures to be followed next and is willing to cooperate with them ... which might help to ease the tension caused by secondary screening ever so slightly.

It does help. If I know the passenger coming through the WTMD is expecting to alarm for whatever reason, then when it goes off, I don't have to send the person back out to double check their pockets when it's not necessary. It does speed the process along. Many frequent fliers will tell me as they approach the WTMD or point to their knees/hips. It does speed the process.

It's not confusing if you think about it. When someone alarms the first thing you do is ask them to remove any metal items from their pockets, ask if they have coins or ancell phone. This can take time. If they have a metal implant, no need to waste time, the additional screening begins more quickly.

I have have some people attempt multiple times, removing their watch, glasses, yet they keep alarming, then they ask about their implant, ask if that coukd be causing the alarm. Answer: yes, and thus, no need to remove watch or glasses, etc.

It's actually very helpful for somone to tell us about their metalic implant. Doctors notes are useless in that they dont allow the passenger to avoid secondary screening. It has nothing to do with that we don't believe them. More than a few passengers have had knives and such on them (even a few guns) and said they shouldn't be screened because it was just their metal hip or knee.

A minor at 15 years of age?
 

Isn't a child of 15 considered a minor in most states? Won't the original poster need some sort of documentation from the half-sister's parent(s) authorizing the original poster to bring the minor aboard? Is the original poster male, or female?

I find this part of the situation much more troubling than surgical rods setting off alarms.

I'm pretty sure the airlines let you fly so long as you're 12 or older.

I'm male, and I will indeed have documentation from her mother. Regardless, why would that be necessary? What would make them suspect I'm not her legal guardian in the first place? Do parents routinely get asked "Excuse me, sir, can you prove you're this child's father?". *confused*

Well, that would be REAL mission creep. Yet, too bad we can't do that since it potentially could be a federal crime, if it were some adult taking a minor across state lines for immoral purposes.

Just TOOOOOOOOOOO much crime in the world, you can run as fast as you can and remain where you are.

There have been a few nasty cases, including some involving airlines, of this. Usually they involve toddlers, not teenagers, and they're usually cross-racial adoptions. Kid throws a tantrum for whatever reason, and Ma/Pa Kettle decide that since the parents don't look like the kid, the kid must be abducted. Then either the airline, police, "security," whatever overreact "out of an abundance of caution." :rolleyes:

How many of them were teworrrrists bent on world domination and circumventing TSA skurrrity?

0.

valid advice but a question based on my experiences from my friend who has a a titanium rod in his leg....

since the pax is carrying proper documentation, why not go thru the wtmd and see if you alarm. if no alarm, continue on your way but you do alarm, then tell the tso who is the wtmd gatekeeper your situation and take the secondary with the hhmd. this is what my friend does. he would always get a secondary when telling the tso at the wtmd that he has a rod in his leg even tho he would not alarm but since i suggested he do it as i mentioned above, he is thru the wtmd and on his way in just a few minutes (and n.b. he as alarmed only twice since his surgery 3 years ago)

just my two hockey pucks but seems more efficient if you ask me

+100 There is a lot of variability in the WTMD and don't make things worse than they need to be.

I've got a 50% hit rate with my metal hip implant. Removing my watch (which never used to alarm) and other jewelry seems to help. There is no metal in my shoes, but this week at CBR, I alarmed the WTMD while wearing the shoes. Told the guy that I had a metal hip, was sent back to remove shoes, came back through. (Note: the following is why I love Australia). The screener and I were both expecting another alarm, but when it didn't he just shrugged, smiled, and let me through. ^

Knives and guns have been found hey?

Erm, ok, remind exactly what medication you are on these days, clearly it's not working?

This an old thread, but the only one that I could find that related to my search.

I'm having back surgery in a couple of weeks, which will include the install of a couple of titanium pins. My surgeon claims that its rare for the pins to be detected when going through security.

So with that in mind, can anyone comment on frequency of detection? I'm also part of PreCheck, I would hate to loose out on the benefits of this for future travel.

I have a metal plate and 7 screws in my right leg; I don't know what they're made of but they've never registered when going through security...although I have never gone through either BSX or MMW scanners, so I don't know what might have happened if I had.

Depending on how soon you're flying after surgery, I'd be more concerned about having your surgery scar(s) groped.

I have titanium pins and screws in my knee and I don't set off any alarms.

Thanks for the info. Surgeon wants to ground me for 3 months, but I'm going to see how things go. His concern isn't the flying itself, but the lifting of my bags. The past 4 weeks I have practiced traveling lighter than I typically would. At least on a temporary basis, I think I can get by without the laptop, using only the iPad for presentations, etc. I think I will actually make 3 days out of my Crew 9 rolling tote. So lighter weight bag, less stress on my back until it fully fuses, and an easier time through security given I'm taking much less. I might get used to this...:)

Thanks again for the info. Cheers.

Just a quick follow up; I had zero issues with the metal detector at the Denver TSA PreCheck location yesterday. The pins in my back must not be enough to set off the metal detector. I will be curious to see how things go with the full body scanner here in ABQ this Thursday though.

And yes, I'm traveling just 2.5 weeks since back surgery with no pain whatsoever. Needless to say I think my surgeon rocks!

Added info: no issue today with the full body scanner in ABQ. Nice to know I won't have to suffer added issues with the TSA with the rods in my back.