Sage2 shares many of the same features found in SAGE II and SAGEIIc. For detailed information about drawing techniques and the tracing function, see the SAGE II help section.

An injury is defined by drawing the outline of an area; either by using a few points spaced far apart in a 'connect the dots' fashion, or by continuously drawing with the stylus. The most efficient diagrams are created using a combination of both techniques.

To complete an area, tap the [+] button in the upper-right corner of the screen - the program will close the polygon and "fill in" the area. Many patient diagrams will consist of several injury areas.

We have found it takes some practice before users become comfortable with drawing diagrams, so we suggest experimenting with simple areas first, before tackling complex burn diagrams.

Any area outside the body that is accidentally 'painted-in' will be ignored in the calculations when the diagram is processed; i.e. between fingers, etc. Use of the tracing function is strongly recommended for defining burned areas at the perimeter of the diagram.

[ A ] / [ P ] - Toggles between the anterior and posterior views

[ M ] / [ D ] - Toggles between the "moderate" and "deep" palettes

[ C ] - Clears the diagram for a fresh start

[calc] - Switch to the "calculate" screen for 1/4 scale view and generating estimates.

[ < ] - Undo the last point anchored

[ T ] - Trace between 2 points on the perimeter. The tracing function allows you to capture points along the perimeter of the body to include in your injury area.

Anchor the cursor on or near the perimeter of the body - this will select the start point for the tracing. Press the [T] button - its color should invert (turn black). If the button doesn't invert, the last point selected was not close enough to the perimeter - select another point closer to the perimeter and try again.

To finish tracing, simply select another point along the perimeter, and SAGE will automatically add all the "between" points to your burn area. The word 'traced' will appear near the upper-left and the [T] button should invert back to normal.

[ - ] - To delete a previously drawn area, tap this button, then tap the area to delete.

[ + ] - Finish the currently drawn area. When you begin drawing an injury area, the [ - ] button will change to [ + ] until you click it, which will close the polygon and finish the area.

You may find it convenient to use your PDA's hardware controls to scroll the diagram up and down while drawing an area. I find it easiest to "drag" the slider; it can be dragged as far as you want, and it only repaints the screen once.

Sage2 will automatically age-adjust the body area percentages, so be sure to enter the correct patient age (especially for patients under 18 yrs) before "calculating" the diagram.

If you include the patient's weight (in kg.) and height (in cm.), Sage2 will provide fluid resuscitation estimates for burns over 20% TBSA with the user-adjustable "ml x kg x %" formula.

[data] - switch to "data" screen to view specific body area estimates and to save or load diagrams.

[calc] - Generate burn area estimates. This may take some time on slower Palm OS devices, so please be patient.

[draw] - Switch to the "draw" screen

[save] - User-created diagrams may be saved for later importing into SAGE II or SAGE IIc.

[calc] - Switch to "calculate" screen for 1/4 scale view and generating estimates.

[draw] - Switch to the "draw" screen

Sage2 is designed for devices running Palm OS 3.x or higher. It has been tested on Palm, Handspring, and Sony Clie devices, but it has not been exhaustively tested on all models.

To self-test your particular palm device, create a split diagram (shown above), and confirm a result of within a few percent of 50%.