Travelling with refrigerated meds

[3pletprincesses]

This will be our first time taking a flight when we need to have refrigerated meds. How do you do it? Do you bring with you on the plane only the strict minimum in a small cooler and then put the remaining in the suitcases with ice packs or everything in the plane? also what do you do with seringes? I have no idea of what to do. We will be arriving at Disney at 11am and likely going to lunch DTD right after and don't want to have too much meds with me in a lunch box in the heat. I was thinkting of putting most of it in the suitcase in another lunch box with ice packs which I know it would be fine for another few hours until we get back from lunch and give time to ME to deliver it. Also do you know if the fridge in the room will be already cold as we are staying in a value resort or do we have to plug it and wait for it to get cold?

 

[crashbb]

I would never leave any medication (other than something easily replaced like Advil) in my checked luggage.

You are free to bring the medication as carry-on (your syringes are also fine).

There is lots of information here: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/index.shtm
Here is some of the relevant information:

Additionally, we are continuing to permit prescription liquid medications and other liquids needed by persons with disabilities and medical conditions. This includes:

• All prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including petroleum jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for medical purposes;
• Liquids including water, juice, or liquid nutrition or gels for passengers with a disability or medical condition;
• Life-support and life-sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs;
• Items used to augment the body for medical or cosmetic reasons such as mastectomy products, prosthetic breasts, bras or shells containing gels, saline solution, or other liquids; and,
• Frozen items are allowed as long as they are frozen solid when presented for screening. If frozen items are partially melted, slushy, or have any liquid at the bottom of the container, they must meet 3-1-1 requirements.

 

[minnie mum]

Bring all of your medication and syringes with you in your carryon. You will need a small softsided cooler with a hard frozen cold pack. Do NOT use the soft gel cold packs. I also bring a letter from my doctor stating that I am carrying a prescribed injectible medication, in case the TSA asks. The cold pack needs to be frozen solid when going through security, so if you have a longish trip from home to the airport and the weather is hot, put your little soft sided cooler in a larger cooler filled with ice.

As soon as you get to your Disney Resort, ask luggage services to store your soft cooler for you if your room is not ready. They can refrigerate it for you. If you must take an injection while you are at DTD, then just take enough for that one dose with you. You can pick up your cooler from luggage services when you return to the resort. I would NEVER leave anything that has to be kept cool in my checked luggage. Don't underestimate the effect of Florida heat on luggage exposed for several hours (it can take 3-4 hours to get to your resort, and won't be in airconditioned surroundings for much of that time). And I shudder to think what would happen if the luggage got lost.

As for syringe disposal: I believe that you can request a 'sharps' disposal box from housekeeping. Or you could bring your own from home (packed in your checked luggage).

As far as your room goes: have you requested a fridge for your room? I'm assuming you are aware that they are not standard in the value resorts. It may or may not be plugged in and already cold. In that case, just get some ice from the ice machines and use that until the fridge cools down.

 

[3pletprincesses]

thank you for the advise. I thought it would be an issue the amount in the carry on. I will do as recommend which is bring everything with me. I feel stupid but I never thought of luggage getting lost as it never happend to us yet but wouldn't want the meds to get lost. Thanks for the tip about Disney putting meds in fridge. Do you know if they keep everything in your cooler or do they take it out?

As for Value I called a few days ago to ask about it as I wasn't sure. We normally stay at POR and dh is the one that made me call to ask if value had it.

one more thing ... does the cooler have to fit in the carry on or can it be a second item?

 

[crashbb]

What airline are you flying? Are you flying directly out of Canada or are you driving to the US and flying from there?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

one more thing ... does the cooler have to fit in the carry on or can it be a second item?

If it will fit under an airline seat, it can be your personal item and you can carry it on along with your one piece of luggage.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We are driving to Syracuse and flying from there. I do intend to bring a big cooler filled with ice with the ice packs in it and med for the drive to keep them as frozen as possible.

Thank you for everyone's help!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Within the US, if the cooler/bag/container contains ONLY medical supplies then it does not count towards the number of bags you're allowed to carry onto the plane.

 

[crashbb]

Within the US, if the cooler/bag/container contains ONLY medical supplies then it does not count towards the number of bags you're allowed to carry onto the plane.

Yup - that's why I asked if she was flying from within the US.

You are crossing the border with the drugs (albeit by car), so I would carry either a letter from the doctor, a copy of the prescriptions or the original packaging (with labels). We carried drugs for my mom across the border many times, and were generally not questioned, but it was always good to have the back up (especially when we had drugs that were approved in Canada, but not the US).

 

[ParrotBill]

We had to travel with refrigerated medicine to Europe a few years ago.

We used a very small cooler that just fit a cold pack and the medicine. The label on the medicine is adequate, and no note from a doctor is needed.

We opened the cooler and handed it to a TSA agent saying "refrigerated medicine" and it was no problem.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Thank you. I thought it would be much harder to travel with meds and needles. I'm glad I asked or I would ahve put most of it in my suitcase and hope for the best. Gotta the people on the Dis.

 

[RMAMom]

Llast year my husband was injecting himself 3 times a day with a blood thinner. He had prefilled syringes, put them in a ziploc and told the TSA agent as we approached security that he had them. She said it was fine and no one batted an eye. I have to say I was taken aback that we could get through security with over 30 syringes filled with a clear fluid and no one even took them out of his carry on!

 

[Maryrn11168]

I travel often with my son's medication. I also agree to NOT put anything in your checked luggage, all medical supplies that are carried on do not count toward the carryon allotment. I always bring a letter from his doctor stating that we are traveling with needles, syringes, nebulizer, etc. I have never been asked for it, but I am more comfortable knowing that I have it. Have a great trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

Bring all of your medication and syringes with you in your carryon. You will need a small softsided cooler with a hard frozen cold pack. Do NOT use the soft gel cold packs. I also bring a letter from my doctor stating that I am carrying a prescribed injectible medication, in case the TSA asks. The cold pack needs to be frozen solid when going through security, so if you have a longish trip from home to the airport and the weather is hot, put your little soft sided cooler in a larger cooler filled with ice.

As soon as you get to your Disney Resort, ask luggage services to store your soft cooler for you if your room is not ready. They can refrigerate it for you. If you must take an injection while you are at DTD, then just take enough for that one dose with you. You can pick up your cooler from luggage services when you return to the resort. I would NEVER leave anything that has to be kept cool in my checked luggage. Don't underestimate the effect of Florida heat on luggage exposed for several hours (it can take 3-4 hours to get to your resort, and won't be in airconditioned surroundings for much of that time). And I shudder to think what would happen if the luggage got lost.

As for syringe disposal: I believe that you can request a 'sharps' disposal box from housekeeping. Or you could bring your own from home (packed in your checked luggage).

As far as your room goes: have you requested a fridge for your room? I'm assuming you are aware that they are not standard in the value resorts. It may or may not be plugged in and already cold. In that case, just get some ice from the ice machines and use that until the fridge cools down.

Yes, you can request a sharps container from Housekeeping when you get there.
They provide them because it is much safer for the Housekeeping staff to have them in a secure container.

thank you for the advise. I thought it would be an issue the amount in the carry on. I will do as recommend which is bring everything with me. I feel stupid but I never thought of luggage getting lost as it never happend to us yet but wouldn't want the meds to get lost. Thanks for the tip about Disney putting meds in fridge. Do you know if they keep everything in your cooler or do they take it out?

As for Value I called a few days ago to ask about it as I wasn't sure. We normally stay at POR and dh is the one that made me call to ask if value had it.

one more thing ... does the cooler have to fit in the carry on or can it be a second item?

On a trip to New Orleans a year ago, my bag was lost and I did not receive it until the next morning.
On our trip back from WDW last October, 3 of our 4 bags were delayed. We got them delivered to our house about 5 hours after we got home.
Those were the first times in many years that our bags didn't travel with us, but it could happen at any time. So, don't put anything in the checked bags unless you can do without it.
For the question about whether they would remove your medication from the cooler, I believe they would not unless you ask them too. That's bestto ask about when you leave the medication.

If it will fit under an airline seat, it can be your personal item and you can carry it on along with your one piece of luggage.

One other thing about the refrigerators - when turning them on, people often turn the temperature control all the way toward cold, thinking it will cool off faster. It doesn't get cold faster, but can freeze things if it's not turned down later. So, check the setting - some posters hav gotten their medication frozen because they didn't realize that whoever set the frig up for them turned it all the way to coldest.