Patent Application
20150101224
This invention relates to wrist bands, such as are nowadays applied to every patient upon admission to hospital.
Such wrist bands are well known and normally consist of a thermal, laser or inkjet printable plastic strap which is fastened to the patients' wrists detailing the person's ID and treatments.
The plastic strap is strong enough to survive several weeks of wear and tear on patients' wrists and normally is only replaced after a surgical intervention or other procedure that changes the patient's data.
It has been found, however, that the standard wrist bands are not suitable for infants and babies. The edges of the plastic can rub and cut the baby's skin leading to unnecessary medical complications.
A solution is known from US2006/0218837 A1 (J M Riley). It involves using a band of Velcro™ which can be looped around the infant's wrist and joined with a printable label attached to the outside of the Velcro band. The label has two slots by means of which it can be attached to the tongue which has the hook part of the Velcro on its inside. There is however, a problem with such Velcro strips. By definition, they are easily removable and the printable label can easily be removed from the Velcro band.
Since babies and infants are normally not in a position to offer explanations to staff, wrist band switches are not easily spotted and can lead to mistaken identities with all the consequences of such a mix up. What is more, the “Riley” solution is vulnerable to malicious interference which can go undetected for considerable time. A further factor speaking against the Velcro (Riley) solution is cost.
The invention provides a wrist band as set out in this specification including the claims. It is directed at remedying the above mentioned problems. It is to create a wrist band which can be used for babies and infants, is economical to manufacture, durable, easy on the skin, does not cause allergic reactions and, most importantly, cannot be removed and reapplied without being damaged.
The band is made from latex free inert plastic foam sheeting section of about 1.5 mm thickness and may be any length or width required. The foam could also be substituted with another soft material such as fabric.
The complete wrist band consists of the main foam section of appropriate length, depending on the size of the patient, and a sticky plasticized printable label which can be preprinted or printed on demand. The sticky label is peeled off its backing strip and attached to the surface of one end of the shaped foam. The foam is wrapped around the patient's wrist and the sticky label wound over the top onto the foam. The label adheres to the foam and back onto its own surface which forms a continuous loop of the label around the patient's wrist to hold the whole together and ensuring only the foam is in contact with the wrist.
The glue on the plasticized strip is such that it will not peel away from the foam without tearing and showing signs of tampering. There is also the option to add security cuts into the strip which are designed to tear if the product is tampered with.
The invention has been described by means of the baby example. The extent of the invention covers adult patients as well as infants. It can be used anywhere where allergic reactions are likely that make the use of the standard wrist band unsuitable. Naturally, the band can also be used as ankle bands where appropriate, as with very small babies or patients with thinning and delicate skin due to age or illness.
