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Gambler Sets Off Border Radiation Alarm
An 83-year-old man driving to a Washington state casino last week set off radiation alarms at the border crossing between Canada and the United States, The Vancouver Sun reported (see GSN, March 28). Stanley Smith said he recently suffered a heart attack, and was injected Thursday with radioactive dye during a cardiac scan. “I had no idea I was radioactive,” said Smith, a native of Australia and World War II veteran. “I got the injection in the hospital, but I didn’t know what it was.” Smith on Friday activated sensors designed to prevent smuggling into the United States of material that could be used in a radiological “dirty bomb.” “All I heard was buzz, buzz, buzz, and I thought, ‘What in the hell is that for?’” he said. Border police questioned Smith and demanded to see his passport and medical paperwork, the Sun reported. After 30 minutes, they accepted his explanation for the alarm. He then continued on his way to the casino in Ferndale, Wash. “It was a nightmare, believe me,” Smith said. “Today’s security is so tough,” he added. “And those security people, they have no sense of humor whatsoever.” Smith said patients who undergo medical procedures involving radioactive materials should be warned of their possible affect on security detection systems. Hospitals in British Columbia do provide warnings, along with signed documentation for patients who are going traveling, said Fraser Health Authority spokeswoman Lisa Thibeault. Doctors “are aware of this issue. That’s why there are these procedures in place,” she said (Darah Hansen, The Vancouver Sun, Aug. 16).
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