Method of attaching tube to a tube holder

A method for handling hospital tubing attached to a fixture used in a hospital, by selectively fixedly or slidably retaining the hospital tubing in a tube holder and affixed to the hospital fixture, the method comprising:

• providing a tube holder in the form of an elongated support strip with a generally U-shaped reverse bend at one end forming opposite first and second legs on a tube-holding portion of the support strip, the tube holder having a pair of side-by-side resilient cylindrical receptacles formed by the first and second legs of the tube holder, each receptacle having an access opening expandable by flexure of the first and second legs for admitting the hospital tubing sideways into a selected one of the receptacles, each access opening being smaller than the diameter of the hospital tubing, one of the receptacles having a smaller diameter than the hospital tubing to fix the tubing to the holder by the applied tension of the first and second legs of the tube holder, the other of the receptacles having a slightly larger diameter than the same hospital tubing for slidably retaining the same tubing in the tube holder, the larger diameter receptacle being bounded by the reverse bend at the end of the tube holder so that the larger diameter receptacle slidably retains the hospital tubing while the reverse bend and the access opening to the larger diameter receptacle prevent sideways migration of the tubing in the larger receptacle, the tube holder further including a clip at an end opposite from the tube-holding portion of the tube holder for releasably attaching the tube holder to the hospital fixture;
• releasably attaching the clip to the hospital fixture;
• and
• flexing the legs of the tube holder and inserting the hospital tubing selectively in the smaller diameter receptacle to selectively fixedly retain the hospital tubing in the smaller diameter receptacle with the tension of the tube holder preventing longitudinal travel of the hospital tubing relative to the tube holder, or flexing the legs of the tube holder and moving the tubing farther into the tube holder by inserting the same hospital tubing into the larger diameter receptacle to selectively slidably retain the hospital tubing in the larger diameter receptacle at the end of the tube holder so the larger diameter receptacle normally resists sideways travel of the hospital tubing in the tube holder while permitting guided longitudinal travel of the hospital tubing relative to the tube holder.