LED lights provide several benefits to the industry including: brighter more efficient lighting, reduced generator sizes, and in many cases pushed all lighting into the 12V DC world, thereby eliminating 120 VAC generators from the apparatus. LED lighting is sold based on a lamp heads Lumens output. However, you can’t just compare the Lumens between lighting manufacturers. An LED light head is a collection of individual LED’s on a circuit board with a power supply and lens. These components work in unison to deliver light to the desired areas on the emergency scene. The enemy of an LED is heat. Managing the heat generated by the LED is critical to providing consistent light and ensuring it lasts a lifetime. RAW Lumens are the calculated total output of all LED’s on a board when run at full power with no lens. Effective Lumens are the measured output of the light head when factoring in losses for heat dissipation, power supplies, and lens. Minimizing these losses is what sets apart the different LED lights on the market. Finally, let’s talk about lenses. Engineered with custom geometries, the lens refracts and guides light to the most beneficial area on the scene. This is the most efficient process in the industry. Consider this when comparing scene lights: light pattern on the ground, how wide the pattern is, how far it reaches, and how consistent the light is (noting any hot spots or dark spots).