I haven’t flown since I had my pacemaker fitted 3 years ago. I’ll be flying back to the UK at the end of the month.
I know that I must not go through the scanner and I wonder if anyone here with a pacemaker can explain to me what I need to do when I come to the security area - in Bordeaux and when I come back in Gatwick.
My paperwork for the pacemaker is all in French.
Thanks for any advice / experiences.
My poor (now ex) daughter in law has had a pacemaker since she was a baby and had all sorts of problems getting anyone to believe her when she travelled here regularly at 17/18/19 ect. I’m sure you’ll be fine!
Some new scanners are ok for pacemakers and some are not so please ask. You maybe guided off to the side for a different test.
Does anyone know, do I have to PROVE I have a pacemaker, with paperwork, or do they take my word for it?
No card issued to show
Zero problem Sue. You just pitch up, look knowingly at the security person and tap your left chest. They’re well used to it.
In Nice they do ask for your pacemaker card but nowhere else in the World have I had that, plus ça change… 
They will take you through a gate beside the scanner and pat you down, in a caring way, swab your belt and shoes for explosive residue and then wave you through.
One thing to watch out for is if there are multiple security queues there maybe a direction to some particular lines because they have gates that allow skipping around the scanner. I’ve missed this a fair few times but always been accommodated.
The good news is modern (ten years or so) scanners are no longer a risk, so in those airports one just follows the normal procedure. Though, after the debate on their introduction, I think those scanners do reveal a bit more than some might want to the operator to see 
So best undies 
Great answer
Do you have any prints outs of x-rays and scans with your name on it? That!s what a friend of mine with metal pins in his spine takes with him in case.
I was once refused entry to the US embassy in London until I remembered to take my shoes off, safeties with metal toe caps under the leather. 
I travelled with a colleague who used to provoke much fun when entering US government sites, due to the plate in his head, the pin in his arm, and his prosthetic leg.*
It was always a race to get through security first so we could stand and watch the fun, which usually resulted in a young soldier not quite knowing how to deal with him.
*An Oxford comma, if anyone is interested.
I have a pacemaker. Limoges airport, sent round the queue to be frisked very thoroughly and documentation requested. Manchester airport sent to another scanner, not the one you walk through, and its one that you have to stand in front of. No documentation asked for.
My maths teacher at school had a large metal plate in his head. Our school was at the bottom of a hill with a large television transmitter at the top about a mile away. We did a cross country run to raise money for the school and teachers had to be posted along the route, which included a spot next to the transmitter. He drew the lot to be next to the transmitter and someone drove him up there whereupon he had a very violent fit. The driver thought he’d better take him straight to hospital and when he drove away from the transmitter the fitting stopped. He’d never been that close to such a strong electric field before and this induced a current in his plate which caused the fit.
If only he could have thought of a useful use for it. 
It keeps his brain from falling out, which is pretty useful 
Now that is useful.
If you have a card, regardless of the language, carry it with you. My mum was asked for it when I was escorting her from the UK and back to France. She had no idea about it. I found it in her purse when she died a couple of years later.
Well I went through security at Bordeaux this morning, somewhat daunted by it all since it’s at least 10 years since I’ve flown.
I showed my pacemaker booklet, which then had to go through the x-ray machine while I was being thoroughly patted down every which way. Took quite a long time so I didn’t realise that alongside me my hand luggage had been taken aside and inspected. The security guard had my small rucksack open, she told me it was ok and put it back in a tray to go back through the machine, where I grabbed it, put my shoes back on and carried on. It was only when I was on the plane and opened my rucksack to get out my kindle I realised it, and my i-pad weren’t there. 
The guard had put them in a different tray, still her side of the belt and I, still somewhat befuddled by all the pacemaker stuff, hadn’t really taken it in. Too late on the plane of course. Hoping they find their way to Bordeaux lost property. Still feeling a bit miz. Not least because typing this on my phone is appallingly laborious and there"s lots of stuff to tell OH.
. At leats chances are good that the guards will spot them and hold them for you.
Get in touch with the airline Sue and see if they can have it waiting for you at Bordeaux on your return, if they’re not willing to put them on a later flight.
Thanks for the thought Debby. I’m only in the UK 4 days and I would rather have them still in France than arriving here after I’ve left. The plane crew tried to track them down before we left Bordeaux and I talked to staff at Gatwick and I realised the risk of them arriving here too late was too great.