Airport Medical Devices

Airports aim to ensure all passengers have a positive experience throughout the airport and are
treated with dignity and care at the security gateway. Passengers and their baggage will need to go
through airport security before reaching the departure area.

For this purpose, most UK airports are directed by the Department for Transport (DfT) to use security
(body) scanners to screen departing passengers from the UK.

Passengers who are fitted with external and internal medical devices¹, and prosthetic devices² are
encouraged to inform the Security Officer. If the Security Officer assesses that a passenger wearing or
fitted with a medical device is not suitable for screening by the security scanner, then an alternative
search process will be used to suit the circumstances the passenger has declared. The screener may
ask to see the medical device to complete the screening process. For such passengers, an airport may,
depending on its local policies, offer for, or require, this screening to be carried out in a private area
(not on the lane), so that a sufficient search can be completed whilst protecting the dignity of the
passenger.

Any passenger who elects to opt out of a security scanner search for non-medical reasons is required
to have an ‘enhanced search in private’. It will likely add additional time to your journey and will
involve a more in-depth hand search in a private search area. Further details can be found here.

If a passenger refuses to be screened in accordance with DfT requirements and the instructions of the
Security Officer, they will not be permitted access to the restricted part of the airport beyond
security and will not be able to board a flight.

 

¹ Included but not limited to: Medical devices worn on or in the body: Continuous Glucose Monitoring systems
(CGMs), insulin pumps, living with stoma bags, cochlear implants, feeding tubes, defibrillators, and artificial
pacemakers. (This is not an exhaustive list).

² Included but not limited to: Prosthetic devices are replacement body parts widely used in modern medical
treatment. They may be fitted internally or externally and include replacement lenses in the eye following
cataract surgery, artificial heart valves, hip replacements and breast implants. External prostheses include
those used in cosmetic surgery or following breast cancer treatment, and artificial limbs. (This is not an
exhaustive list).