In conjunction with combat medics I developed a triage light for use during battlefield/adverse condition field triage scenarios. The idea was to reduce the weight and volume of the equipment (chemlights) carried and improve the performance times of the medics and support personnel. In the end we combined the four triage conditions into one light, R/Y/G/B and IR/R/G/B (military). Since then many different civilian responder agencies and responder training schools have adopted the triage lights and the triage light program is part of the Dept. of Defenses, Domestic Preparedness Support Initiative. Some years ago I found one study that showed if you used lights during field triage you reduced the patient collection times by over 30% and you reduced patient collection errors from four errors down to one error. I am now looking to verify these findings in order to support a push that responder agencies be equipped for night time triage scenarios. In the end I hope this will make the lives of the responder easier when responding to night time scenarios and improve the chances of the survivors, surviving.

You can vote on the topic at FEMA's think tank website, here is the link: http://fema.ideascale.com/a/dtd/24-7-Field-Triage-Preparedness/319348-14692

You can learn more about myself and the Emergency/Triage Light at www.triagelights.com . Here is the link to the study "Casualty Collection in Mass-Casualty Incidents: A Better Method for Finding Proverbial Needles in a Haystack" - http://triagelights.com/pdf/study-using-lights-for-triage.pdf