A central catheter is sometimes used by implanting it in a person or in an animal, sometimes for long periods of time. This catheter can be, for example, a flexible silicone tube having a tip which is placed in a large vein near the heart, so that medications for fluids can be mixed quickly with the blood and transported to other parts of the body. The catheter is then brought under the skin along the chest wall and leaves the body at another place on the chest or stomach, sometimes referred to as the "exit site." The external part of the catheter is several inches long and has a cap covering the end. Around the middle of the catheter there is typically a dacron cuff. The dacron cuff serves two purposes. As the body heals, tissues will go around the cuff to hold the catheter in place and it also prevents germs from traveling up the outside of the catheter.
Many procedures have been developed at preventing infection and one of these procedures involves taping a dressing or gauze pad over the exit site and securing it with tape. This dressing must be changed on a regular basis and the area thereunder cleaned and disinfected. Because this process is necessary quite frequently, the process of securing tape to a body and removing it at frequent intervals causes a redness or soreness. Because of the discomfort associated with this process, there is a need for an apparatus and process to eliminate the taping and tape removal procedures.