Presenter asks Atascosa County to back voluntary survivor visual signaling bill to speed rescues

Juan San Fuellos addressed the commissioners court to seek local support for a bill to establish a 21st-century survivor visual signaling system to help first responders identify survivors, their location and needs when normal communications are disrupted.

San Fuellos said the system is low-cost and voluntary, and that it can be implemented through existing apps or simple light signals. He described a color-coding scheme intended for rapid, low-technology recognition: red for children, green for people with special needs, blue for adults, yellow for service animals and white as a catch-all; steady and flashing patterns would convey status (steady = I’m OK; flashing = I need medical assistance and rescue).

"The purpose of this bill is basically save more lives," San Fuellos said, and he cited exercises and studies with the Naval Postgraduate School and other emergency managers as support for the concept.

A commissioner who had trialed the system at a conference described downloading an app and being able to send and receive survivor status updates; the court discussed interoperability and whether sheriff’s dispatch could receive notifications if the system were adopted locally. San Fuellos emphasized the proposal is voluntary and would not change search-and-rescue fundamentals — it is intended to provide immediate visual cues to prioritize response.

Commissioner Gillespie moved and the motion was seconded (recorded as Commissioner Reilly). The court voted to have the judge draft and sign a letter of support for the proposal and to pursue outreach to state legislators after the election cycle.

San Fuellos thanked the court for the support and offered to follow up with more material and demonstrations.

Next steps: the judge’s office will draft a letter of support and staff will coordinate follow-up outreach to the presenter and interested commissioners.