Sustainable Hospitals - Saving Money with Tyvek® I.D. Bracelets

Saving Money with Tyvek^® I.D. Bracelets

For saving money and improving the environment, tyvek® patient identification bracelets can be a winning choice (for a description of tyvek, see the note at the end of this article). Every year an average hospital uses thousands of patient identification bracelets for inpatient and many outpatient applications. Most bracelets are made of vinyl, and at the end of the hospital visit they are disposed of either with the hospital's general waste or at the patient's home. Most of this trash is ultimately incinerated, and burning vinyl may result in the formation and dissipation into the environment of the carcinogen dioxin. Although bracelets made of vinyl are a minor contributor to environmental and health problems, I.D. bracelets represent an application where vinyl use can easily and cost-effectively be reduced by substituting an alternative material.

Tyvek® patient identification bands are flexible, paper-thin, water-resistant, and tear-resistant. (Most of us are familiar with lightweight and extremely rugged tyvek mailing envelopes and insulating house wrap). Tyvek bracelets have advantages and disadvantages. The drawbacks include a less polished appearance and inability for the bracelet adhesive to withstand repeated water soakings, such as multiple showers or repeated soakings during hand washing. For applications where repeated water soaking is unlikely, such as an overnight or outpatient hospital visit, a tyvek bracelet can be a fine choice.

The benefits of the tyvek® bracelet include its much lower cost and preferable environmental characteristics. Tyvek bracelets are approximately half the price of vinyl bracelets. 0ne hospital estimated savings of almost $10,000/year by switching just 20% of its bracelet use (for short-stay applications) from vinyl to tyvek. From an environmental perspective, incineration of olefin (tyvek's basic material) in oxygen results in the formation of carbon dioxide and water, a much more benign alternative than the potential for dioxin associated with incineration of vinyl. Dupont has also set up recycling programs for tyvek, and as hospitals consider recycling of tyvek medical packaging (tyvek is also used in packaging many sterile medical devices), it may be feasible to recycle bracelets in the same category.

Tyvek® identification bracelets are available from the following sources or you may contact your medical supplier. You can find specific product names on our list of patient I.D. bracelets. Information about recycling may be obtained from Dupont, manufacturer of tyvek, at 800-448-9835.

Tyvek® identification bracelet suppliers include:

Precision Dynamics Corporation
800-847-0670
http://www.pdcorp.com

Wristband & Medical Specialty Bracelets
800-940-3993
http://www.wristbandsupply.com

Note: Tyvek®, which is DuPont's registered trademark, is a tough durable paper-like sheet of spunbonded olefin. Tyvek® is manufactured by spinning very fine continuous filaments of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and bonding them together using heat and pressure. Dupont reports that tyvek® is non-toxic, chemically inert and contains no binders.

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