TSA asks a 95 y/o women to remove brief

Published

Really ? What a shame ! :uhoh3:

It's so unfortunate that we have to live like prisoners but what if the TSA let this woman through and she was concealing a bomb? Highly unlikely but what if it happened?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Oh goodness I was just going to post in my journal about this. I just came back from traveling out of the country. I totally understand airport security and what they have to do. But I don't really have to leave the country and I doubt if I will be doing it again. The security is just so demeaning but that DOES NOT mean I blame the agents in the airport. It was far worse for the lady I was with. She is disabled and travels by scooter. She made the mistake of wearing a dress because it is easier for her to get in and out a dress. She was just about given a public gyne exam in the middle of an air port. My spouse and I agree that we will travel by car inside the country for our vacations in the future.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

Too bad she didn't take off the diaper and smack him in the head with it. This woman was a nurse, she was one of us, and this was beyond disrespectful.

To my knowledge, the TSA has not been credited with stopping a single attack -- the shoe bomber and others were stopped by the people on board, after successfully being screened. However, a lot of people, myself included, no longer fly because of the TSA's behavior.

There's a great book called "The Lessons of Terror" by Caleb Carr. He wrote it back just after 9/11 and he predicted a lot of what's going on now...erosion of civil rights, a turning inward of our culture, and a violent reaction to any perceived threat (like a dying 95 year old in a wheelchair? Give me a break. What are they going to do next? Ultrasounds on pregnant women because it could be a bomb surgically implanted in there, after all).

The bad guys took out World Trade Centers 1, 2 and 7 and a section of the Pentagon. What's happened after that we did to ourselves. Read about Rome after it was first sacked --- the society imploded. And we're living thru it again.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
"those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."- benjamin franklin

i'm sorry this seems like unreasonable search to me, pat downs on children under twelve, really? if we are terrorized enough to give up our dignity and personal freedom then the terrorists don't even need bombs now do they? ug this whole thing makes me sick, i keep hearing more of these stories, women's breasts exposed in public, breast ca surviors having to remove padding in public, sa surviors traumatized. it's time to say enough is enough.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/744199---israelification-high-security-little-bother this article makes some great points about airport security.

that article emphasizes that they use behavioral profiling in a country with only 7.5 million residents and about 10 airports.

this article gets more specific about the israeli security measures.

http://www.forward.com/articles/122781/

the multi-layer system begins outside israel's biggest port of entry-ben gurion airport. cars approaching the terminal are stopped by guards and asked one or two questions, usually about where they are coming from or what is the purpose of their visit. a nervous response, or one revealing an arab accent, could trigger further scrutiny even before entering the airport.

...

this is also the point where profiling takes place: while most jewish israeli citizens will be waved through after the brief conversation, others, mainly israeli arabs and non-jewish visitors, will be taken aside for lengthy questioning and a thorough luggage and physical check.

an israeli official aware of the security practices said that profiling is not based solely on ethnic, religious or national affiliation, but rather on a combination of factors that also include behavioral patterns, travel information and previous intelligence.

do you really feel we should go this direction?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Sure do. We're not the terrorists. If 99% of all terrorists are of a certain persuasion (I don't care which), then let them be subject to intense checks and having their diapers examined. Go for it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OB.

I'm very disturbed by this and see it as some say as "security theater". The only thing left is body cavity searches and I'm not sure that may not occur someday.

My question for the parents of young children is what do you tell them about this after years of teaching them about bad touch and that no one should touch your privates?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
My question for the parents of young children is what do you tell them about this after years of teaching them about bad touch and that no one should touch your privates?

There's a difference between "bad touch" and an appropriate touch. Regardless of how one feels about the TSA pat downs of children, calling it a "bad touch" is dangerously inaccurate.

And, yes, I watched the youtube video of the 6-year old being patted down and added to the more than 1 million views it has already received. The TSA agent was explaining her movements every step of the way with the little girl's parents right next to her. It was blown out of proportion because of philosophical differences about TSA rules, not because the actual pat down was done in unprofessionally or in an inappropriate way.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

While I agree totally with the esteemed Mr. Franklin, the TSA is terribly behind the curve with even thinking about the various ways problems can occur.

For example, I have had a pump implanted in my abdomen for the last decade (it was put in two weeks after 9/11.) When I got it, the pump manufacturer issued me an ID card confirming I had a medical device and told me to always carry it with me when I traveled by air as I would not be able to get past security checkpoints without it.

I have flown at least four times a year for the last seven years -- my most recent flights were today. As a wheelchair user, I cannot walk through the screening system so I am always manually patted down.

Number of times I have ever been asked for that card: zero.

Number of times I have presented the card and been told by TSA agents that they had no idea what I handed them or why they'd want it: seven.

Number of times I've been asked if I have any internal or external medical devices: twice, both for the first time today when I made a day trip by air.

In other words, it took them a full DECADE after 9/11 to start thinking that devices might be implanted into passengers and establishing a policy to screen for them.

Another case in point: leg and belly urine collection and ostomy bags. Airport security personnel are hypervigilent that you can only take 3 oz. of shampoo in your carry-on, but there are no standardized TSA P&Ps in place regarding confirming that what the wearer says is a collection bag really is or that it really contains human waste. Some when a bag is detected during a pat down, the TSA agent will ask the wearer to go to a private room so they can visually confirm it's a bag. Most times, however, the agents take the passenger's word at face value. Neither is good policy -- being asked to show one's bag, even in private, is embarrassing at best. But allowing bags filled with more than 3 oz of waster through without any checks while confiscating shampoo defeats the purpose.

A simple compromise? Those with collection bags would be be notified that they must empty their bags before passing through security. An almost empty collection bag plus a negative chemical swab would preserve privacy, dignity, and safety.

I bet it's at least three more years before TSA realizes this could be an issue and establishes clear, standardized procedures and policies for their employees. But I'll be a lot of money it's not the solution I propose.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
When you think of your own grandma or your own young son being patted down, it does seem ridiculous. But if you look at the Vietnam War for instance, the Vietnamese communist soldiers would pose as villagers, strap explosives to babies, hand over the babies to American soldiers, and detonate the explosives. So consider that it might seem ridiculous to us to use a child or senior to carry out a terrorist plan, but to the extreme terrorist, the age and gender of the martyr might take a backseat to the importance of successfully executing an attack. I hate the idea of this happening to my own mother for instance, but I appreciate the great degree of care taken my most of the TSA; it makes me feel safer about flying over all...As long as the searches are done respectfully and carefully, I don't see a problem. I know that if I were a terrorist trying to get some weapon or explosive onto a flight, the first thing I would do is enlist senior citizens in my cause (and the older and more frail they are, the better!) because they are the last people anyone would suspect of carrying out a heinous crime.

.............................. just my :twocents:

Oh I was referring to the pat downs and intrusive "security" measures as ridiculous. I have no doubts terrorists will go to any lengths to accomplish whatever ends they have in mind. As the daughter of a veteran I'm sensitive to all those freedoms my Father fought for. If we allow ourselves to be terrorized, if we allow anyone to be subjected to this type of "security" then the terrorists have succeeded. They want to spread fear and if we allow this attitude of " do whatever it takes to make me feel safe" to continue we won't recognize who we are anymore. That's the real goal of terrorism.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, Ortho, Subacute, Homecare, LTC.

I think maybe the daughter was more embarrassed that she was caught with her mother's diaper full. How long were they going on that flight for? Did she not think to pack any more depends?

Soon after, Weber said, a TSA agent told her that her mother's Depend undergarment was "wet and it was firm, and they couldn't check it thoroughly." But her mother had no clean diapers in her carry-on luggage and the departure time for the plane was approaching, Weber said.

This was from http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/06/27/florida.tsa.incident/index.html?hpt=hp_p1&iref=NS1

Seriously, though who doesn't pack spares? I for one wouldn't like to sit in my own *insert you know what here* for 4 hours....

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The reason they recently changed their procedures is because of those stupid body scanners. There is a reason they make the pat-downs so uncomfortable, they want people to go through the scanners instead. Why do they want them to go through the scanners? Because those scanners were millions of $$ billed to the taxpayers, and made a company somewhere a hefty profit.

The pat downs you used to go through were okay at best, and now it is just ridiculous.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am panking already because I have to fly soon what are they going to do to me when they fell an s/p catheter with tubes a bags around my waist ? "oh god save me now" I was flying about two years ago and they thought my dogs Nyla bone was an explosive ???

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion