Lockheed Martin of Pennsylvania wants to make life safer for people such as
firefighters who have to work in smoke-filled spaces (GB 2 337 620). If someone
is hurt or loses consciousness, and falls down, they are hard to find because
smoke particles reflect bright flashlight beams, dazzling rescuers coming to
look for them. Lockheed suggests incorporating clusters of red LEDs into the
firefighters’ clothing, with lenses that send shafts of light out from the
wearer in all directions. The searcher then sees a star of beams apparently
converging on the person in trouble.
Technology
Saved by the light
By Barry Fox
26 February 2000
