Anyone who has flown since 9/11 has experienced the lengthy security lines at airports throughout the country. I’m guilty of having done my share of complaining about having to stand in line with a toddler and having to strip down to a single layer of clothes in order to pass through the X-ray machine without setting off the alarms. I often have to remind myself that my inconvenience is nothing compared to what passengers with casts, braces or prosthetic limbs are made to endure just so they can make it to their flights on time.
I can’t imagine how relieved those special needs passengers must feel today… especially the ones flying out of the Nashville International Airport. Just a few days ago security screeners at the Tennessee airport started using a new X-ray machine called a CastScope that is designed to better assist and screen passengers with casts, braces and prosthetic limbs. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the CastScope is a portable X-ray machine, which scans the prosthetic or covered areas on the human body for weapons or explosives in a few seconds.
If you have ever traveled with a person wearing a prosthetic limb then you know that the metal in it typically sets off the metal detectors. Up until now, those travelers were then taken aside, patted down, checked for trace explosives, and scanned with a metal detector wand. Sure, it’s a necessary part of the tighter post 9/11 security measures, but most prosthetic wearing passengers also consider it an unnecessary time delay—in some cases the extra screening can take up to 20 minutes.
Nashville’s airport joins Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Tampa International Airport and San Jose International Airport as a pilot location for the new CastScope.
Amputees have heralded the arrival of the CastScope in airports. Can you blame them for celebrating? One retired Army specialist who lost both his legs defending our country recently told news reporters that prior to the CastScope arrival he would have to call the TSA prior to arriving at the airport to let them know he was coming. He says a TSA agent would meet him at the curb and help him through the screening process. Now, with the introduction of the CastScope he hopes that he can eliminate the phone call… and the delays at the security checkpoints.
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