Industry Expert Blog: Versatile Lights Make Rescue Missions Safer
Firefighting missions can be fraught with danger. A hazardous environment or high-risk situation could be around any corner. Even in broad daylight, time is of the essence and chances of success can be slim, and the odds can stack up against you even faster in the dark.
During night-time operations, professional lighting allows firefighters and other emergency services to work around the scene fast, alleviating the potential for secondary incidents from unforeseen obstacles. The benefits of scene lighting are endless. Highlighting structural failures, seeing through smoky conditions, and alerting the general public are all essential parts of any fire rescue mission.
Whether you’re in the fire service, emergency medical service, or other first response service, potential hazards need to be recognized at a scene as quickly as possible. A common misconception about lighting is that deploying as many lights as possible at a scene will make things clearer, but in practice, this approach can cause confusion. Different lighting types have different roles to play.
When choosing lighting options for search and rescue operations, there are multiple factors to consider. Brightness (lumens), beam width and range (candela), power source, size, functionality, and safety rating are all major aspects. While many products are versatile, your choice will ultimately depend on your specific needs and the environments in which you intend to use them.
What you should look for
Professionals rely on advanced lighting tools every single day to do their jobs and keep them safe. A major aspect of what makes a good light is not only the brightness and range, but also the design itself. Good lights can adapt to different situations and provide what the user needs when they need it.
Personal right-angle models are respected favorites among firefighters around the world, offering extreme brightness and durability in a compact size. This type of light is frequently used as a handheld flashlight so responders can locate a target in need in low-light situations. If both hands are needed during the operation, a right-angle light can be clipped to a belt or harness, allowing full use of the hands to operate machinery or remove obstructions. The versatility and small size of right-angle lights allow them to work great in tight, enclosed spaces.
Streamlight’s Survivor® is a right-angle light with high brightness, compact size, and exceptional resilience. The light is designed with an easy-to-operate button and a fast, universal clip-on, clip-off feature, making it easy to use when wearing heavy gloves. It also benefits from unique interchangeable ‘Smoke Cutter®’ plugs. These plugs help create your preferred beam pattern and reduce peripheral light and/or eye fatigue caused by glare. The Survivor® utilizes a scratch-resistant polycarbonate lens, is 2-meter impact-resistant, IPX4-rated water-resistant, and Division 1 approved.
In situations where more than just a handheld or right-angle light is needed, look to lanterns and area lights. Lanterns usually provide more power compared to personal handheld lights but still remain portable. Focused, bright light allows firefighters to search and inspect from a distance, keeping them clear of danger. A lantern’s size can also allow for a more powerful yet lightweight battery and in turn a longer run time when compared to a personal light. A longer run time ensures that the scene stays illuminated for lengthier operations.
The latest model in Streamlight’s Vulcan® series of lanterns, the Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO®, is one of the most resourceful lanterns on the market. It features a 180° articulating head with three bright white LEDs and two ultra-bright blue taillights that provide visibility from behind in thick smoke. The articulating head enables firefighters to direct light in any direction they need. And because it is powered by a lithium-ion battery, it is one of the lightest-weighing lanterns in its category. This allows the lantern to be moved or carried from place to place with ease, ensuring maximum mobility when moving through a treacherous environment.
When even more coverage is needed to brighten a vast area, scene lighting can be extremely effective. It is much easier to operate in a fully illuminated room. A tool like the Streamlight Portable Scene Light II is lightweight, cordless, and compact, preventing trip hazards and making it easy to transport and store. These lights are used by firefighters to throw a large amount of elevated light onto the target area for critical site exploitation and analysis. It reveals an entire setting, helping firefighters discover details about their environment that might have been missed otherwise.
Strategy plays a huge part in every search and rescue mission, and lighting should be a consideration that is never overlooked. High-performance fire products, like Streamlight flashlights, will provide you with the confidence and trust needed to improve the odds of success in any operation.
Why trust Streamlight?
Reliable, versatile, and high-quality lighting products are key to optimizing success. Trusted by firefighters around the world, the team at Streamlight has worked closely with customers operating on the front line, ensuring that they offer lighting solutions for every situation. Whether spotting a catastrophe before it happens, planning a safe route over treacherous terrain, locating obstructions, or signalling to others, using a Streamlight flashlight or lantern could be the deciding lifeline in dangerous environments.
Defined by their innovation in delivering effective, efficient, and high-performance lighting solutions, Streamlight’s research and development team puts in the necessary time and effort to make sure their next product helps save lives and protect firefighters on the job. Creating new products can take anywhere from months to years, depending on the complexity of the product. Features and output may change, but the commitment to quality and innovation remains the same. Streamlight is proud to have gained a reputation as a leading provider of trusted high-performance flashlights and lanterns and is able to offer products that exceed certification requirements for applications in the fire safety market worldwide.
About Streamlight
Based in Eagleville, PA, Streamlight, Inc. has more than 45 years of experience making tough, durable, long-lasting flashlights designed to serve the specialized needs of professionals and consumers alike. Since 1973, the company has designed, manufactured and marketed high-performance flashlights, and today offers a broad array of lights, lanterns, weapon light/laser sighting devices, and scene lighting solutions for professional law enforcement, military, firefighting, industrial, automotive, and outdoor applications.
