Campaign Organiser, Rachel Humphrey has been working directly in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on a new Medical Device & Implant Awareness Card.

On 18 December, Rachel travelled to the CAA offices for a meeting with Peter Drissell, Director of Aviation Security and Michael Lee, Head of Regulation - Airports & Airlines. The new card which is sponsored by both the CAA and Airport Operators Association (AOA) has information on one side for Security Officers and for the passenger on the other. It has full backing from the government and UK airports and aims to be launched by February half term.

Rachel said “I am delighted with this practical and highly effective scheme. It is a tangible solution that should remove any confusion or uncertainty at airport security. The impact of negative experiences should not be estimated as they often have long term repercussions. For example, my son missed 2 overseas school trips due to concern over travelling without his parents. I have also received numerous emails from passengers who will not use a certain airport again, or that now are simply too anxious to travel via air again. It goes without saying that this campaign has been highly personal to me and I am absolutely thrilled that the CAA have worked so hard on this project, which affects thousands of travellers every year.”

The partnership forms part of CAA’s drive to improve the aviation experience for consumers with invisible disabilities.

Rachel is hoping to roll out the scheme globally with overseas organisations to achieve the goal of all insulin pump users having a stress free and safe experience at airport security around the world.

An official joint press release will be issued in early 2019 with full details.