Beep! Security Scans

October 24, 2004

In a message dated 10/24/2004 1:20:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

dkl.pearson@... writes:

I finally filled out the paper work and send it back to Virginia

Listen for Life " Center. I haven't heard back yet but it only been two weeks

that I send it in.

OHHHHHHHHHH,, how exciting! I can't wait (for you).

It is my personal feeling, the implant among the " long time " deafs are

getting popular, and it seems that the clinic is getting more and more

requests.

I think it is happening everywhere, not just at VMMC.

Keep us posted!

Lee

October 24, 2004

In a message dated 10/24/2004 2:43:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

alice@... writes:

I think it just depends on how sensitive they are.

it could be it,,, Court Houses are target of many whatever, so they mihgt

have set it quite high.

Lee

October 24, 2004

In a message dated 10/24/2004 3:10:47 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

dkl.pearson@... writes:

I can't believed that I said Virginia ... LOL I meant to say Virginia

Mason Medical Clinic.

i knew, and wondered if you had your Sunday's morning whiskey........

Lee

October 24, 2004

Oh me of my! Grin! I get stopped so much as it is with only hearing

aids right now! (Of course I'm always " wired for sound " with the

HATIS, and FM neck loop as well) Whether it be airport security,

or " going out and about " (I live in DC) security people are beginning

to recognize me! :-)

Ok! Ok? So? What do you do if your " metal " is an implanted

device? I hadn't tho't of it before! It's not like you can take

everything off! It's INSIDE! So what do you do? Can you carry a

card of something? (Hmmm........ envisioning proud " card carrying "

identifcation for CI folk) It use to upset me so much to be stopped,

but I have learned to anticipate being stopped and that helps me deal

with it. I always go " way early " . I'm going to a sonian with

my kids on Wednesday -- I will be going 30 minutes early!

I recorded a security encounter in my hearing loss journal this

summer. I will cut and paste the appropriate part below for any who

may care to read it.

I'm interested to hear about how CI users explain that they can't

remove their hardware though!

----- From journal (part 2 of " There and Back Again " , July 2, 2004)

On to security, and I was not as lucky this time through. Bells and

whistles, at least I gathered that as my family got whiplash as they

turned with horrified expressions towards me as I exited the

detector. A lady security guard approached me and I immediately

tapped my METALIC badge that says, " Please face me. I read lips! "

She was very kind and took me by the elbow over to a search area.

She pointed to a seat with pictures on it of a person with both feet

raised and another stick figure running a detector wand over their

feet. I figured I was in good shape if everything was going to be in

pictures. I sat, stuck my feet out and she quickly scanned my

shoes. " G-U-M….. " she enunciated with a grin. Sure enough, gum on

the bottom of my left tennis shoe. Knowing it was NOT the gum that

had set off the detectors, I explained that I was " wired for sound "

as she took me over to the next area. " No problem, I'm sure it's

nothing " , she explained.

The next carpet had a pair of feet on it about 30 inches apart.

While wondering what a short-legged person might do in this

situation, I placed my feet on the " foot prints " on the carpet. The

security guard carefully explained to me face-to-face that she needed

me to stand with my arms out to the side, (which she demonstrated)

and that she would use the wand to scan my person. My family, waited

to the side. My daughter, Kyersten, looked horrified with a very

worried expression. My son, was already looking for his " Game

Boy " . My husband caught my eyes and smiled. Not the " I'm going to

tease you about this later " kind of glance, but " calm down Honey………

this is a piece of cake! " So with deep breath I waited as the guard

scanned me from the front. My badge, HA's, etc., all caused her to

shake her head in the affirmative. (If they'd asked I could have

told them! But they are doing their job, so I understood the need to

be careful!) She then went behind me to repeat the procedure. She

tapped me and said something. As I didn't have eyes in the back of

my head, I craned my neck around toward her and said, " Excuse me? "

She repeated herself, and I still didn't catch it.

" I'm sorry, I can't see you, " I stated emphatically. She came around

in front of me and said with careful pronunciation, " It was your B-R-

A. Your BRA! No problem! "

I disagreed, as I saw my family's wide-eyed reaction to this

announcement. I didn't have to ask if she'd shouted the news.

Several grins from numerous directions informed me that many had

heard this statement, although I had not! Oh well.

-------------------

P.

Frederick, MD

October 24, 2004

Hi ,

Yes, CI users carry a medical card that identifies them as such. Sometimes

security would rather wand you but it's always good to let them know in advance

that you have an implant. Lots of people have implanted devices and it can

happen. Most of the time, you won't set off the security alarms but sometimes

there are super sensitive ones that make it happen. It's a great time to teach

people about the devices. I always explain this in advance to security. Have

fun at the sonian.

Thanks for the journal piece. We love reading those.

Ailce

>

> Ok! Ok? So? What do you do if your " metal " is an implanted

> device? I hadn't tho't of it before! It's not like you can take

> everything off! It's INSIDE! So what do you do? Can you carry a

> card of something? (Hmmm........ envisioning proud " card carrying "

> identifcation for CI folk) It use to upset me so much to be stopped,

> but I have learned to anticipate being stopped and that helps me deal

> with it. I always go " way early " . I'm going to a sonian with

> my kids on Wednesday -- I will be going 30 minutes early!

>

October 24, 2004

, Are you thinking about getting a CI?

C Pearson

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