Health

TSA apologizes to nursing mother for airport incident

March 6th, 2012 by | Permalink

TSA misunderstands breastmilk policy when they asked Amy Strand to pump milk to accompany ice packs. Photo via social networking.

Amy Strand, a 38-year-old mother of 4, told abc News that she was “humiliated” during an incident that took place on February 29, 2012, at Lihue Airport in Kauai. Strand, who according to her Facebook page works as a Vice Principal for the Hawaii Department of Education, was attempting to board a flight with her electric breast pump and the accompanying cooler pack and empty bottles. After asking to see what she was carrying, a Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) official told her that she could only bring the ice pack on board if the bottles contained milk. Strand – who had just dumped breast milk from the bottles thinking it would make her passage through security easier – asked the agent if there was somewhere private that she could go pump.  She was told no and directed to the women’s restroom.

However, her breast pump needed to be plugged in, and the only outlet in the bathroom was outside the privacy of a stall. Not wanting to ditch the bottles and ice pack that were made specifically for her breast pump, Strand proceeded to pump breast milk in front of the mirror in the public area of the women’s restroom.
 The guidelines on the TSA’s website state that  “mothers flying with, and without, their child are permitted to bring breast milk in quantities greater than three ounces as long as it is declared for inspection at the security checkpoint,” but don’t make reference to coolers, ice packs, or empty bottles.
TSA later released a statement saying  their agent had acted in error and that he’s “receiving remedial training.” According to their statement, the TSA agent told Strand that ice packs could only be carried on a flight if they were medically necessary, which isn’t true. Strand says that the head of the Hawaii TSA personally apologized to her and that he “seemed very sincere.”
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