5. Discussion
While the evaluation results for the Vessel TRIAGE method indicate
a broad agreement among various stakeholder groups, further
studies on its theoretical validity and its practical use are recommended
for future research. Especially evaluations in SAR exercises
and analysis of feedback from actual use in maritime distress situations,
accounting for the perspectives of the various actors, would
be valuable for further establishing credibility of the method, or for
making adjustments to the proposed system. In this context, it
should be noted that the validity of medical triage systems is an
ongoing research area, even for well-established triage systems
such as the Manchester Triage system (Parenti et al., 2014; van
der Wulp, 2010). Future research concerning the method could
also address the crew’s willingness to use the method in actual distress
situations given other concerns (e.g. financial losses due to
possible reputational damage after reporting a maritime incident)
and strategies to train ship crew and SAR operators to use the
method.
Notwithstanding the desirability of more practical feedback
about the method in exercises or actual maritime distress situations,
the method already has implications to organizational practice
and has led to further technological developments. First,
Finnish maritime SAR organizations and shipping companies are
currently planning to perform simulator exercises to test the Vessel
TRIAGE method in practical settings. Steps are taken to implement
the method in SAR responders’, shipboard and shipping
company emergency response procedures. Second, Finnish maritime
authorities are taking steps to propose the method to be
included in the IAMSAR manual through international legislative