Cancer Patient Screening At JFK: Treating Passengers with Dignity and Respect

We do our best to treat passengers with the dignity and respect they deserve, but in Lori Dorn’s case, it looks like we missed our mark. We sincerely regret and apologize for the experience Mrs. Dorn had at JFK. The Federal Security Director for JFK has personally reached out to learn more about what happened so he can help ensure that she and others will have better travel experiences in the future. While security is our primary mission, he apologized to Mrs. Dorn for not delivering the customer respect he wants all passengers flying through JFK to experience and offered to meet her the next time she flies through this airport.

 

I want to take this opportunity to clarify a few things about the screening process.

Medical cards, whether from a physician or TSA, do not exempt you from screening. They're a great way for passengers to discreetly let us know about a medical situation or disability they have. This is very helpful for the passenger and our officers because it lets us know how to better screen the passenger. Passengers may present these cards at the checkpoint to our officers. In this case, our officers should have allowed the passenger to present her card and been more empathetic to her situation while completing the screening process. Passengers who would like to create their own card can go here.

Private screening can be requested by any passenger for any reason and in situations such as this one, our officers should offer it.

If advanced imaging technology detects an anomaly that cannot be cleared, secondary screening is required to ensure the passenger does not have threat items, such as explosives concealed under clothing. We sincerely regret any instance such as this one when a passenger does not have a positive experience.

TSA has just rolled out an in-service technical training course focused on screening prosthetics. This curriculum focuses on all types of prosthetics and the requirements of the standard operating procedures related to the screening of Persons with Disabilities and Medical Conditions. It is a four part curriculum with one of the modules focusing on different scenarios and the decision making (critical thinking) process and the outcomes of the decision made by the officer. The training should be complete nationwide in a little over a year.

 

TSA works with numerous groups including breast cancer organizations to continuously refine and enhance our procedures to improve the passenger experience while also ensuring the safety of the traveling public.

Blogger Bob
TSA Blog Team 

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

TSA Response to "TSA Breast Milk Screening" Video

Updated on 12/9/2010 at 8:25 P.M. to add that proper procedures were followed.


Nearly a year ago, a passenger going through airport screening on two separate occasions requested that her breast milk be visually inspected and not screened by the X-ray machine.  She filed a complaint with TSA regarding her screening experience. TSA investigated the matter and sent a letter of apology to the passenger in March of this year. The passenger has flown since these events occurred and has provided TSA a written confirmation that she no longer experiences issues.

After the investigation, the officers received refresher training for the visual inspection of breast milk (an infrequently requested procedure). I’d like to reassure readers that while our top priority is to prevent a terrorist attack and to ensure that your family, friends and loved ones arrive safely at their destinations, we also strive to provide the highest level of customer service to all who pass through our security checkpoints. Our policies and procedures focus on ensuring that all passengers are treated with dignity, respect, and courtesy. We go to great lengths to train our security officers in the proper way to inspect individuals and their personal items.

We extend our sincere apologies to any passenger who may have experienced discomfort and inconvenience during the screening process. We appreciate hearing from passengers and encourage you to share your experiences with us.  Although the proper screening procedures were followed at the time, we acknowledge this particular passenger experienced an out of the ordinary delay, and have worked with our officers to ensure we proceed with expediency in screening situations similar to this.

Blogger Bob

TSA Blog Team

The Evolution Continues

Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) became the latest airport to unveil Checkpoint Evolution today. They introduced passengers to the new uniform, training, and new signage all geared towards making the checkpoint a much more relaxing environment while also enhancing security.

We sent Jeremy (best known for his work spinning on our evolution Web site) to Reagan National today to get some photo and video from officers and passengers. Luckily, while Jeremy was on location, there were no sightings of puppies or poultry projectiles.

We’re excited to continue to introduce more passengers to the Evolution of Security and I personally can’t wait to fly through DCA again so I can give it a test drive.



Bob
TSA EoS Blog Team