It is not just pumps. My friend flew back to Denver with her mother who is 89 and has Alzheimers
and they did a full body pat down of her mother and took her picture and told my friend that her
mother was a security risk. A security risk???? I would like to know how a person can be a security risk when they are 89 and have Alzheimers and their mind is usually in another time and place.
If one has any kind of disability they are considered a security risk. I am Deaf and have gone through the pat down, etc for years.
I also once mentined that I have a pump & was frisked head to toe.
I've been flying overseas many times since 9/11.
I learned to take along an empty shopping bag & put all things that can possibly trigger the alarm into the bag including the pump which I disconnect for about 3 minutes. I don't mention anything about it & since then all is fine.
When our 10 year old son, flying for the first time last summer, was going through security, we were very open and honest and prepared. We had our letter from the physician. We openly showed them the pump and supplies. Unfortunately, for some reason he beeped when going through. He then had to undergo a full pat down and was swabbed for explosives. Totally treated as a terrorist. As a first time flyer, he was nervous to begin with. Anytime he moved, he was told, "Don't move!" as if he was going to detonate something right then and there. It was a very scary experience for him!
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I am pretty sure that each airport is just pretty much making up the rules as they go along. I flew on Saturday and had a different experience than you did: http://www.diabetesdaily.com/knicks/2010/12/i-was-scanned-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale.php. I wish there were centralized rules, because then at least we could know what to expect.