A thermal imaging system includes an infrared (IR) detector configured to detect ambient IR radiation in a surrounding environment of the IR detector and pulse sequences of mechanically-generated IR radiation in a status message emitted by a portable signaling device mounted on a wearer. The status message represents an operating status of the wearer and a processor operably connected to the IR detector analyzes the pulse sequences in the status message and generates a display message based on the pulse sequences. The display message is display on a screen for viewing by an operator of the thermal imaging system. The display message is presented as visual indicia representative of the operating status of the wearer which is displayed concurrently with a graphical image of the surrounding environment that is based on the ambient IR radiation detected by the IR detector.
