I've flown a lot but the variation in approach to pumps does surprise me. Sometimes there's no issue, I just get to walk through the side of the x ray scanner and that's it, other times I've been swabbed in a private room and most recently the guy told me I had to walk through it like everyone else.. which I challenged and didn't!
My experience of politely declining the opportunity to put my pump through a body scanner is they either take it as a refusal to put my body through the scanner and I am manually scanned/patted down (sometimes in the public area sometimes taken off to a private room) or I am offered the chance to go through without the pump. In this latter scenario, the pump is kept within my sight at all times and swabbed which I am being scanned.There are walk through metal detectors (not to be confused with xray machines), walk through body scanners and bag Xray machines.
Most manufacturers recommend that pumps are not put through the bag Xray or body scanners, where as walk through metal detectors are fine.
The bag xray machines have been fine for handsets and dexcom receivers (for me).
I wear my pump and walk through metal detectors but have refused to go into body scanners - each time I'm allowed to walk around and be manually searched/swabbed. You do have to ask, and get challenged, just be firm and say the manufacturer has told you that it cannot enter the scanner and all should be ok.
Re: x-rays
I don't believe x-rays harm pumps. Certainly the OmniPod is ok according to their information (can't remember offhand whether that's in the manual i.e. something I read on their website). But follow manufacturer's guidance on this.
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