RitcheyRch
12-20-2006, 07:21 PM
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_354110907.html
A woman going through security at LAX over the weekend put her 8-month-old grandson into a plastic bin intended for carry-on items and slid it into an X-ray machine, prompting astonished officials to order that the child be medically evaluated .
The infant was taken to Centinela Hospital, where doctors determined he had not received a dangerous dose of radiation, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In the several seconds the baby spent in the machine, he was exposed to as much radiation as he would get in a day from cosmic rays, or high energy from outer space, Dr. James Borgstede, a Colorado diagnostic radiologist and
president of the American College of Radiology, told The Times.
The incident, which occured Saturday, caught airport workers by surprise, even though the security line was not busy at the time, officials told The Times.
A screener watching the machine's monitor immediately noticed the outline of a baby and pulled the bin backward on the conveyor belt, The Times reported.
Officials, who declined to release the 56-year-old woman's name, told The Times she spoke only Spanish.
She initially didn't want the baby transported to a hospital, but security officials called paramedics and insisted the child be examined by a doctor, according to The Times. The woman and child were later allowed to board an Alaska Airlines flight to Mexico City.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez said his agency, which manages LAX screeners, does not want such an incident to recur.
"We're trying to figure out what changes we can make, short of putting up signs saying, 'Don't put your baby through the X-ray machine,' " he told The Times.
A woman going through security at LAX over the weekend put her 8-month-old grandson into a plastic bin intended for carry-on items and slid it into an X-ray machine, prompting astonished officials to order that the child be medically evaluated .
The infant was taken to Centinela Hospital, where doctors determined he had not received a dangerous dose of radiation, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In the several seconds the baby spent in the machine, he was exposed to as much radiation as he would get in a day from cosmic rays, or high energy from outer space, Dr. James Borgstede, a Colorado diagnostic radiologist and
president of the American College of Radiology, told The Times.
The incident, which occured Saturday, caught airport workers by surprise, even though the security line was not busy at the time, officials told The Times.
A screener watching the machine's monitor immediately noticed the outline of a baby and pulled the bin backward on the conveyor belt, The Times reported.
Officials, who declined to release the 56-year-old woman's name, told The Times she spoke only Spanish.
She initially didn't want the baby transported to a hospital, but security officials called paramedics and insisted the child be examined by a doctor, according to The Times. The woman and child were later allowed to board an Alaska Airlines flight to Mexico City.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez said his agency, which manages LAX screeners, does not want such an incident to recur.
"We're trying to figure out what changes we can make, short of putting up signs saying, 'Don't put your baby through the X-ray machine,' " he told The Times.