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Metal detectors, etc.
- by Heartfelt
- 2018-03-15 09:15:33
- Complications
- 1375 views
- 4 comments
Does anyone know to what extent metal detectors can damage the pm? I travel a lot through airports and manage to get pat downs, but I’m concerned about detectors that are now being placed in stores and other public places. My pm recently set off a detector at a department store entrance. And, in NY Penn Station, there are now detector systems to identify whether someone is wearing an explosive suicide type vest. However, the press says this mechanism does not affect anyone with metal implants.
4 Comments
Per Tracey
by Theknotguy - 2018-03-15 23:42:45
As always, thanks to Tracey. As she indicated, the detectors shouldn't bother the pacemaker. You need to have a heavy magnet within a couple of inches of the pacemaker itself. That triggers the communications mode. The detectors don't have a strong enough EMF field to initiate the communications sequence. The worst that would happen is that it would initiate the communications mode. The pacemaker would send out a "I'm here" response, then wait for a synching response. Not getting it, it would just turn off the communications mode. But I don't know of a detector that has that strong of an EMF field that would trigger the communications mode on the pacemaker.
Most of the time when people report their pacemaker triggered and alarm, it just indicates the alarm was triggered. It doesn't mean anything was triggered in the pacemaker.
I had a guy sneak up on me with a wand. Ran it right over the pacemaker. No problems. Since he was being a jerk, I decided not to make an issue of it but I won't tell you what I was thinking. No problems with the pacemaker.
I also volunteer in a hospital. Have to pass through the metal detector in the ER several times a day and walk past the MRI machines. No problems with the pacemaker.
Oh, and my pacemaker was four years old. So you shouldn't have to worry.
no worries
by dwelch - 2018-03-29 05:14:56
I think even in 1986 when I got my first pacer it wasn an issue. This falls into the category of microwave ovens at the convenience store that might have a sign. Or actually every third electronic device you buy may have a pacemaker warning in it...Legal fear/insurance
The folks at the airport, particulary the TSA, are not going to be happy i fyou just walk through i it beeps then you say something. nor if you tell the first person I have a pacer they send you to person number two to be wanded but dont tell them and they wave their wand over it because it keeps beeping. You can try your best to educate them on the spot, dont mess around, I have a pacer can I go around, I have a pacer it is right here, thank you move on...
I think there was a t-shirt that had something to do with TSA and hide and seek. Fairly certain that wont make your airport travels any better either.
Airports are definitly designed to deal with us, but sporting events, etc not so much. I tell them at sporting events but those facilities tend to have the machines packed up tight next to each other or tables between them but no way to walk around, one place they had to move a table, another I just had to go down to the end of the row and go around, they are not as grumpy in general as the TSA, but some seem to think they are helping you out by protecting you from it. I have done my fair share of just walk through and see what happens, had pacers for decades...
So I wouldnt worry about the detector, its the security people and how they treat you if you set it off...
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metal detectors
by Tracey_E - 2018-03-15 11:40:50
We shouldn't linger when we walk through, but they can't hurt us. Worst case, we make it go beep but that's pretty rare. I've been paced since 1994 and can count the times on one hand I've set off store detectors. Newer pacers use a different alloy and are very well shielded. It's ok to walk through metal detectors at airports, etc now. I used to get pat downs but when I got my new one two years ago I was told it was safe to walk through. I haven't had a problem at airports, cruise ships, courthouses, concerts or amusement parks.
Even if you have a device old enough that it can be affected, and you linger too long, the worst it can do is put it into test mode until until you walk away. When they interrogate the pacer, the puck they put over it is a magnet that puts it in test mode. If we are near a magnet that is strong enough, and get close enough (less than 6"), that's all that can happen. As soon as we get away from it, it goes back to full function with no harm done.