Carrying an EpiPen on board a plane
 

Has anyone ever had a problem carrying an EpiPen on a flight?

An EpiPen is an epinephrine (Adrenaline) auto-injector that is carried by people with allergies. My wife carries one in case of an anaphylactic reaction to shellfish.

We're obviously not likely to encounter shellfish on board an airplane, but we really don't want to check it, for two reasons:

1. It's a critical emergency medicine, and we don't want to risk losing it in the checked luggage.

2. It will be damaged if it freezes in the hold.

We carry a letter from a doctor, in case anyone asks. Nobody asked about it being in our carry-on on our trip to Spain last November. Yet it seems like something that the authorities might worry could be used as a weapon. You just remove the safety cap, and jab it against someone, and it injects 0.3 mg of epinephrine (or for that matter, something else, if it's not really what it claims to be). Sounds like a great potential weapon, far more dangerous than a nail file.

Has anyone ever been questioned about this?

- Larry

My husband carries an insulin pen for his injections since he is diabetic and we have flown numerous times with no problems. He also carries a letter from his doctor

It would be wise to carry the Epi-Pen in its original packaging with the pharmacy label on it, in addition to an MD note.
I haven't read or heard anywhere that this has been a problem. Of course, somebody sooner or later will make it one.

Dad carried a couple of syringes on our flight with his medication ... no questions were asked. He did have a prescription from his dr in case there were questions. Your airline website should address this issue and explain their policies, but obviously, people need epi pens and syringes.

Anne

If you have a Doctor's authorization letter, you'll have no problem. However, be sure to have that with you, because stepped up checkpoint screening procedures are now in effect outbound and inbound to the US for the foreseeable future.

I've had my EpiPen very carefully looked at a couple of times, but other than that slight delay there hasn't been any problem. I've never been asked for a prescription or a doctor's letter, but it makes sense to have one anyway.

By the way, cargo holds are maintained at the same pressure and approximately the same temperature as the passenger cabin, so you don't have to worry about things freezing (or pressurized cans blowing up) in checked luggage.

Thanks, all.

Thanks, FlyFish. As for cargo holds, they are always pressurized, as they are within the circular cross-section of the fusilage that constitutes the pressure vessel. But my understanding (which could be wrong) is that they are seldom heated. They pick up some heat from the passenger compartment above, but I didn't think they were often heated themselves. This may depend on the particular aircraft, or I just may be mis-informed.

As for the pressure, yes, the cargo compartment is pressurized along with the passenger compartment, but it is not pressurized to sea level. It is only pressurized to around 11,000 feet or so. This means that there IS a drop in pressure as the plane climbs up to that altitude, but then the pressure stabilizes for the remainder of the climb. If this were not so, nobody would have any trouble with their ears.

Clearly, this is not enough of a pressure drop to cause pressurized cans to blow up, if they are in good shape. However, I would never pack or carry a pressurized can on an airplane - what if it were weak? Imagine the mess an exploding can of shaving cream would create.

And the drop in pressure DOES have implications for packing. I tend to buy things like shampoo in tubes, which can expand and contract with a bit of pressure change. Also, it is only AIR that will expand with the drop in pressure; liquids will not. So I pack only full tubes, after opening them, holding them upright, and squeezing out all the air. I then re-seal them tightly. If they are half-empty when it is time to return, and I can't get all the air out, I would rather throw them out than pack them. I almost never have problems with leaks.

In a recent post, someone recommended packing fragile items surrounded by Ziplok (r) bags with air in them. That's a good idea - the air will expand in the hold, and pack the items tightly. But don't fill the bags too much, or the expansion will burst open the seal, and the bag will lose its effectiveness as packing material. You'll notice that the bubbles in bubble pack are never full, to allow for expansion in shipping.

- Larry

I only said that the cargo area of an aircraft is pressurized to the same level as the passenger cabin. I didn't mean to imply - and in fact was careful not to say - that aircraft are pressurized to sea level. I usually wear an altimeter watch - which of course doesn't give you the actual altitude you're at in an aircraft, but does give you the "altitude" that the aircraft is pressurized to. In hundreds of flights I've never seen the pressure drop below the equivalent of 7000 ft., and something like 6000 ft. is more common. So, if you wouldn't be afraid of taking your shaving cream or whatever a bit west of Denver (and I wouldn't) you shouldn't be concerned about taking it in checked luggage. In over 1 million miles of air travel over the last 3O or so years I've never had any trouble with cans or half-full bottles of liquid, so while I'm not saying leaks can't happen - obviously they can and do - I'm saying it's not something to be greatly concerned about. And with regard to the heat issue, the outside temperature at cruise altitude is almost -40 (same temperature on either scale, by the way - the only temperature that is), and aircraft routinely carry pets in cargo, so I think it's unlikely that the only heat is what happens to leak in from the passenger compartment.

You're not ALLOWED to carry on, OR pack in your checked luggage, aerosol cans, or other such pressurized cans that could, as you put it, "blow up" due to changes in pressure. Such items are considered hazardous materials-HAZMAT for short-if you want to check to see what items are permitted and prohibited in your carry-on and checked baggage, go to: www.tsa.gov-Prepare for Summer Take-off. It provides a fairly extensive checklist of items in a wide range of categories.

I've kept my Epi-pen in my carry-on luggage on lots of flights, and only twice did someone quesion me about it.

Once, when I said, "it's an Epi-pen", the response was, "Oh, a marker", as she put it back in my bag.

The other time (beofe I had the MD note), the checker was really reluctant to let me keep it, even though the armed Amry guy was telling her they were allowed on planes all the time.

An Epi-pen a <i>Marker</i>? What a riot! Isn't it nice to know that our security people are so on top of things?

FlyFish: re-reading, your post is indeed precise. I never thought about getting an altimeter watch - that would be a lot of fun for a techno-geek like me.

You made me curious about temperature in aircraft holds, so I did some web surfing. Indeed, temperature when the plane is in the air is generally maintained between 50 - 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The greater problem is on the ground, before the airplane takes off, particularly on hot days, as the hold can be heated while taxiing, but not cooled.

- Larry

I carry my daughter's epi-pen with me all the time, and have never been questioned about it. I keep it my purse in a plastic toothbrush holder ( the 2-part kind that is tube shaped, fits perfectly) and I always have the pharmacy put the script on the outside of the pen, not on the box the epi-pen comes in. I've flown to LGA, San Diego, Providence, Boston, O'Hare, London, Vienna, Munich and have never been asked about it. Maybe because it's in the plastic tube?

Slightly off topic but to clarify a post above regarding aerosol products: The TSA allows you to bring a limited amount of personal care and toiletries with aerosol in both checked and carry on luggage.

Larry,

What about all those soft-drink and mixer cans that are in the galley?

We need to take a can of root beer with us for a French friend and plan to put it in our carry-on.