Creating a Balanced, Efficient Emergency Response LED Light Setup

If you’re a first responder or emergency personnel worker of any kind, from police to firefighters, ambulance operators and many others, being visible and noticeable to others on the road is naturally one of your top priorities. This is a massive theme for safety and ensuring first responders can get where they’re going as quickly as possible, and one of the most important elements here is the visual one.

At LED Equipped, we offer a huge range of emergency vehicle LED dash lights, light bars, visor lights and numerous other related products to make your vehicle visible and noticeable whenever necessary. One of the most important concepts we regularly assist our clients with: The proper balance in their emergency light setup. Why is this important, and what are some of the simplest themes to keep in mind as you go about looking to strike the perfect balance? Here’s a rundown.

Why Balance Matters for Emergency Light Setup

When you’re setting up the light bars, sirens and other visual cues on your emergency vehicle, it’s important to take a step back and think about the bigger picture. In other words: How will everything look when it’s all put together, and how will that work with the specific needs of your situation?

The right balance in your emergency light setup is vital for a few reasons. First, you need to make sure that the lights you’re using complement each other rather than clash or compete. You also want to ensure that the final product is highly visible and noticeable without being overwhelming or excessively bright. Finally, it’s important to consider how your emergency light setup will impact your day-to-day work; too many lights and you may find yourself constantly struggling to see, while not enough lights will leave you vulnerable in potentially dangerous situations.

Yet another additional theme to consider here: Your power usage. While an extensive, over-the-top light setup may look good, it could also come with some serious power consumption issues that leave you struggling to keep up in the long run. It’s important to find a happy medium that gives you everything you need without putting too much of a strain on your vehicle’s battery or electrical system.

Importance of Advanced Planning

This process isn’t as simple as taking one quick trip to our shop and calling it a day. Rather, designing and implementing the perfect emergency light setup for your needs requires a bit of advanced planning. Consider the following themes as you go about this process:

• Your specific emergency lighting needs: What do you need your lights to do for you, and how will they be used in day-to-day operations?
• The size and layout of your vehicle: How much space do you have to work with, and where can lights be placed for maximum effect?
• Your budget: How much are you willing to spend on your emergency light setup, and what are your long-term financial needs? If your light setup is being covered by your employer, are there any specific requirements or guidelines you need to follow?
• Your power needs: How much power can your vehicle’s electrical system handle, and how will adding emergency lights impact your day-to-day work?

Asking these questions ahead of time will make it much easier to find the right emergency light products for your needs, and ensure that everything is properly installed and ready to go when you need it most.

Your Various Light Options

As you go about this planning process, it’s good to have a solid idea of what your various emergency light options are. Here are some of the most common choices typically available:

• Light bars: One of the most popular emergency light products on the market, light bars are long, thin strips of LEDs that can be mounted on the roof, hood or other location on your vehicle. These are typically very bright and highly visible, making them ideal for a wide range of situations.
• Grille lights: Grille lights are small, compact LEDs that can be mounted on your vehicle’s grille in a variety of different ways. These are often used in conjunction with light bars or other larger visual cues, providing an extra layer of protection and visibility.
• Surface-mounted lights: Surface-mounted lights are also small and compact, but rather than being mounted on the grille they’re typically attached directly to the body of the vehicle. These can be placed just about anywhere, making them very versatile, and are often used in combination with other light types.
• Visor lights: As the name suggests, visor lights are designed to be mounted on or near the visor in your vehicle, providing a bright, direct light source that’s easy to see.
• Headlight flashers: Headlight flashers are devices that attach to your vehicle’s headlights and cause them to flash in a variety of patterns. These are often used together with other light types to provide an even more noticeable visual cue.
• Tailgate lights: Tailgate lights are small, compact LEDs that can be mounted on the tailgate of your vehicle. These are often used in conjunction with other light types to provide an extra layer of visibility, and can also be used on their own in some cases.
• Dash lights: For first responders who need to be able to see their vehicle’s dashboards clearly, dash lights are an essential piece of equipment. These are designed to be mounted on or near the dashboard, and provide a bright, direct light that makes it easy to see all of your gauges and controls.
• Strobe options: Many of the light types listed above are available in strobe versions, which flash in a variety of patterns to provide an even more noticeable visual cue. These are often used in combination with other light types for maximum effect.

Now that you have a general idea of your emergency light options, it’s time to start thinking about how to put them together.

Multi-Level Setup

For many first responders, a top recommendation is to create a “multi-tiered” or multi-level setup, which involves combining several different light types to create a more comprehensive system. This allows you to customize your emergency light setup to better suit your specific needs, and can provide a number of benefits in terms of both safety and efficiency.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when creating a multi-tiered setup is balance. You’ll want to make sure that you’re not overwhelming your vehicle with too many lights, as this can actually reduce visibility in some cases. Instead, focus on creating a balanced system that uses a variety of different light types to provide the coverage you need without going overboard.

Another key consideration is placement. When choosing where to mount your various lights, it’s important to think about both form and function. You’ll want to make sure that your lights are placed in a way that maximizes their visibility without sacrificing functionality or creating too much of a distraction.

Light bars are a common choice for the top level of a multi-tiered setup, as they provide a wide, even light that’s easy to see from a distance. For the second level, many first responders choose to use grille lights, surface-mounted lights, or visor lights. These provide a more focused light that’s still highly visible, but doesn’t overwhelm the driver with too much brightness.

For the third level, dash lights and tailgate lights are often used. These provide a more localized light source that’s still visible from a distance, but doesn’t interfere with the driver’s ability to see the road ahead.

Some first responders also choose to use headlight flashers as part of their multi-tiered setup. These can be used in conjunction with other light types to provide an even more noticeable visual cue, or on their own in some cases.

For more on how to go about creating a balanced, efficient emergency LED light setup for your vehicle, or to learn about any of our LED light bars, visor lights or other options, contact the pros at LED Equipped today.