Separate Lanes at the Airport??
Apparently, the TSA thinks that people with medical needs (who are carrying insulin, for example), should go through a separate lane in security, along with families and people who are unfamiliar with airport security and need more time.
I have a big problem with this - I travel frequently and have it down to a science - my 3-1-1 ziplock bag and my insulin zip lock bag get packed in the front of my carryon, where I can pop them out quickly and place them in a bin for speedy inspection. I am a model traveller, while others around me fumble through their ditty bags (still!), pulling out full size lotion bottles and shampoos.
The thought of having to get into a designated (and slow) lane ticks me off. I hope I'm misinterpreting this, but it sounds like a recipe for trouble.
Not mention the potential privacy pitfalls!
WASHINGTON (AP) — Airports across the country will have designated security lanes for families to move through preflight inspections at their own pace, just in time for the busy Thanksgiving travel season.
The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its family lanes to every security checkpoint in the country by November 20. The popular lanes, which have been tested at 48 airports, provide a space for families and passengers who don't travel very often to move through security at their own pace.
People who carry prohibited items for medical needs — such as cough syrup, insulin, contact lens solution and breast milk or baby formula — will also be directed to the family lanes, the TSA said.
"Expanding these lanes to every airport and directing families and passengers with medically necessary liquids to them, increases passenger convenience and security," TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said in a statement Monday.
posted by Kassie @ 7:15 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I'm with you, Kassie. I also fly a lot and have never had a problem. I'm flying tomorrow and my meds are all in one zip lock bag. I'll be gone awhile, all my other liquids are getting checked.
Do we have to use the family lane?
I always have my baggie ready to go and I do not want to wait for people who don't know what they are doing!
I fly at least a couple times a month and I never, ever put my insulin in a plastic baggy - that's only for normal liquids that you can only have a certain amount of. Medicine is exempt from counting towards your limit, and the one time I *did* have it in my bag I was told by a nice security guy that it didn't need to be.
I also never say I'm diabetic or bring it up, despite wearing a pump. Most security personnel are familiar with pumps, even across Europe, and just wave me through.
Basically, I wouldn't sweat it ... and to avoid hassles, I would keep mum about being diabetic or carrying insulin as you go through the line. No reason for them to know - and sometimes if you bring it up, they may *feel* like they have to do something special because others in the line heard you.
I use a baggy for my insulin only to be able to pull it and place it outside my luggage. The one time I did not pull it from my bag, I had to dig it out and have the prescription label checked against my ID. So, it really depends on who is working the line. The policy is that liquid medicines should be 'declared' and are subject to extra inspection. I don't 'declare' anything but I also want to avoid the hassle of having the bottles spotted on x-ray and having to dig them out again.
Now, on the flip side, more often then not, no one bats an eye at the insulin bottles.
You are NOT limited to the small ziplock bag when it comes to amount of medicine, I just use it for convenience.
I'm totally with you on this! And like you, I tend to put all my liquid medication in a small plastic bag for convenience. In fact, contact lenses and medications are the only liquids I carry anyway. I also bundle all my sharps into a clear cosmetic case so they are easy to grab for inspection if I'm asked.
However, I think the press release you quote is probably badly worded. It says: "People who carry prohibited items for medical needs — such as cough syrup, insulin, contact lens solution and breast milk or baby formula."
Insulin, in the way we carry it, is not prohibited since it comes in 3ml cartridges and 10ml vials that fall well within the permitted liquids size limits. Large bottles of medications or contact lenses fluid (another reason I prefer disposables) and of course baby milk are often carried in prohibited sizes, and so subject to additional check. I think a separate lane for all those who need to go through the process of tasting their baby food (as they do here in the UK, at any rate) would be a good idea! Controversially, also think people with diabetes who insist on carrying big bottles of juice, rather than carrying smaller, and hence permitted, glucose gels or tabs or some other form of fast acting glucose, should be directed to slower, extra checking lines.
The way I see it is that there is very little difference, security wise, between a small bottle of insulin and a miniature tube of toothpaste that any business traveller could be carrying through the regular lines!
True, insulin qualifies under the size limit, but I always keep it separate so I can fit more stuff in the ziplock bag.
I agree,what a needless hassle ...unless there was nobody else in the lane and you could zip right through! I've never had an issue traveling with my insulin and syringes in their regular carrying case.
Jeannie
http://www.youtube.com/diabetesmiracle
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