How Long Should Temporary Identification Bands And Collars Be?

By Author: Mike Ferring
Total Articles: 4
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With the growing obesity epidemic in America an interesting question that has recently come up is: how long should identification bands be?

True, Americans are packing on the pounds and, if forecasts are right, 42% of us will be obese by 2030. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of obese people in 10 states already exceeds 30%. The implications for our medical system are obvious and serious, but what does it mean if you’re ordering medical wristbands or armbands?

In fact, wrist size is sometimes used to help calculate Body Mass Index, a measure of obesity. (click here for a description of the sizes). What you’ll find is that it’s unusual for a wrist to exceed 7.5” around. A wrist 9” in circumference would be rare.

Out of curiosity, we surveyed a crowd of 300 people and approached anyone who seemed to have really large wrists to see if a 10-inch-long hospital armband would fit. We couldn’t find anyone whose wrist was so large that 10 inches wouldn’t do the trick. The two biggest we found were large men who we would not categorize as obese, one ...
... 6’8” tall with a big frame. The band fit easily. The other is a guy you’d want as an offensive lineman on your team. Easy fit again.

Certainly there are people whose wrists are larger than 9 inches around, but they’re rare. And as a result, the standard length for a TabBand wristband (and most hospital or entertainment wristbands) is 10 inches. However, we do produce a 13-inch long band for hospitals that find they occasionally need the greater length.

If humans are getting bigger, are their pets getting bigger too? Some of our veterinary temporary animal collar customers think so.

Recently I’ve received three emails from different animal hospitals suggesting that they think that it’s not just people who are getting bigger, but their pets as well. If the pet parents are eating a lot, maybe they feed the pets a lot too?

We offer two lengths of temporary animal collars used by veterinarians, breeders, kennels, and groomers: 10 inches and 20 inches. The shorter collars are used mostly by breeders or animal hospitals that treat a lot of kittens and cats. The longer ones fit nearly all animals, except for the really big breeds… and maybe some of the new breed of obese animals. In those cases, we recommend simply linking two collars together. The adhesive is very strong and will hold as well as the laminated collar itself.

Could we make longer collars? Our equipment limits the size and our 20-inchers are already the longest pre-cut collars in the industry, so we think we’re making the right length now. But maybe by 2030 when the obese population grows, we’ll want to adapt to their bigger pets too!

Article Source: identificationbracelet blog