Emergency Light Hazards

Emergency vehicles are required to move faster than other vehicles

. Before emergency vehicles started using an emergency light and a siren to manage this, they used passive warning methods for the purpose. Passive warning consisted of special coloring, or boldly written words on the vehicle to convey that the vehicles are different.

After emergency vehicles like police vehicles, ambulances, and fire trucks started using more than one emergency light and sirens along with it, the warning system has become much more effective and sophisticated. Halogen lights and strobe lighting that have conventionally been used in emergency vehicles have always done a good job and now with the arrival of LED on the scene, emergency light capabilities have increased much more. An emergency light now gives better services as a concealed light, and also as flashlights that may be handheld or incorporated into various parts of the user's duty gear.

Health hazard complaints about different types of emergency light have been limited. However, some people can be sensitive to bright lights, and those who are likely to be exposed consistently to emergency lights should ideally know the threats involved in being in the vicinity of bright lights all the time. Moth effect, photosensitive epilepsy, and glare related problems are some of the potential hazards connected to an ultra bright emergency light.

The moth effect, also known as phototaxis, is the movement of an organism in response to a light. In the natural world it is a necessary phenomenon geared towards getting better sunlight. But in the case of moths that get attracted to bright lights, this attraction becomes counterproductive. They move towards the light even if it is hot and thus get injured in the process.

In the context of an emergency light, the moth effect is seen when drivers are attracted to lights that are too bright, generally a red light, and gets disoriented and loses direction or control over the vehicle. However, when one case arose in 1998 that a driver was distracted by the presence of an emergency light beacon, the fact could not be scientifically established.

Another emergency light risk is photosensitive epilepsy. This is a problem characterized by seizures in response to intense visual stimuli. In the case of those who are prone to the illness, rapidly changing images, or speedily or cyclically flashing lights, can trigger off an epileptic seizure. Generally the flash frequency required to spark off an attack is between 10 Hz to 20 Hz. Since an emergency light flash is always much lower than that, those who are exposed to it are hardly at risk of getting a seizure.

Glare related problems are a higher possibility than the other two, because when there is an intense source of light in a person's circle of vision, the other object will appear fuzzy. This has to be minimized by using lights of lesser intensities and by avoiding switching on the lights as much as possible.

Still, it is always safer for emergency workers who are continuously in contact with an emergency light to use necessary eye protection in consultation with a physician.

by: Sunil Punjabi

POST COMMENT

Concealed Police Lights Car Strobe Lights Decorate Best An Led Light Bar Can Be Fixed All Over The Vehicle All Purpose Car Strobe Choosing A Trust Worthy Locksmith Service Choosing Your Security Camera Monitor A Lead To Do It Yourself Home Security Fire Alarm Monitoring Can Save Up Lives A Starter Guide To Cctvs Lock Bumping Why Get Home Cctv Running Cables And Wiring For Home Security Is Not As Hard As It Seems With The Right Drill Bits Brooklyn Locksmith Services