Using drones for emergency services can take firefighters and police officers out of dangerous situations and help save lives.

Why not send unmanned robots into high-risk or remote emergency situations first to avoid putting first responders at risk while helping victims more efficiently?

Whether you are part of a local police force, fire department or a disaster response unit, timing is at the forefront of your activity. Occasionally response time is jeopardized  by on the ground obstacles, flight restrictions and a lack of data, but, taking advantage of the latest technology can practically eliminate these otherwise unavoidable risks.

Drones are cheaper than helicopters and can be deployed from almost anywhere.  Drones also allow you to quickly survey a dangerous situation, assess the risks and who needs help the most.

FIRE SUPPORT AND COORDINATION

If drones are implemented into a fire station, it can be very useful in saving lives:
“Drones are to firefighters what bomb defusal robots are to SWAT teams: they are a way to take a quick look at an extremely dangerous situation without immediately throwing a person into harm’s way. Plus they can provide a aerial perspective of a burning building or similar situation much faster and more cost effective than a traditional helicopter.”

• Firefighters risk their lives everyday in an attempt to save others lives. With the use of drones, analysis of operational situations can be made based upon an overview which can only be acquired from the sky.
• This over head birds eye view can provide crews with the knowledge needed to gain a better sense of a building's structural stability, making it easier to avoid collapses and evaluate other potential risks to their personal safety.
• Extinguishing can be directed at the most critical areas first, eliminating the potential to waste time and resources.
• Emergency response can be coordinated in the most effective way possible.

Detecting and extinguishing wildfires

The current methods of detecting and fighting wildfires rely heavily on human efforts, causing 34 firefighter deaths and 29,760 injuries in 2013 alone, according to statistics from the U.S. Fire Administration.

• Drones could help reduce the frequency and proximity of contact that firefighters need to make with wildfires.
• The drones also would be able to fly lower than manned aircraft and in reduced visibility, delivering fire retardant more efficiently, with less risk to pilots.
• The drones also could be used to map the most likely places to place backfires and ways to evacuate people from high-risk areas.

Wildfire mapping

Much better and safer at penetrating walls of smoke than human pilots, drones equipped with infrared sensors can supply data on the direction and intensity of colossal blazes. Direction can change in a matter of seconds and with real-time data, emergency workers will be updated immediately.

NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE

Extreme weather is becoming increasingly relentless and new technologies are now critical in monitoring and response.

• Commercial drones can engage in natural disaster relief without endangering human life any further than it already has.
• Real-time visual information can be provided in the aftermath of disasters, aiding in missions that are otherwise impossible,
• Images and video can establish target areas so that relief work can begin as soon as possible.
• Drones for emergency services can also help save lives after natural disasters and major storms. Flying a drone equipped with a thermal camera over a neighborhood that has been destroyed by a tornado can help pinpoint where people are trapped and need to be rescued.

SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS

Searching for people or wreckage is time consuming and difficult. It can lead to crew fatigue, decreasing their effectiveness and increasing the likelihood that something could be missed.

• Drones can provide situational awareness over vast areas at an unmatched speed.
• They are the new eye in the sky aiding in searches for missing persons and suspects of crime.
• In minimizing the number of searchers required to locate such persons, drones can reduce the time, cost and risk of missions.
• Finding objects and people in the dark of night has become possible with the use of thermal sensors allowing the detection of movement and body heat.

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS

Impeccable data and information are essential in making decisions and saving time. Drones can provide real-time imagery of any outdoor incident, flying directly over affected sites to provide teams on the ground with the high resolution photography and video needed for precise planning and investigations.

Drones can also help reduce the risk to emergency workers with the ability to hover at low altitudes and record valuable information, such as car registration plates that have been involved in an accident. 

• Save Lives: Reduce Trooper exposure to secondary crashes
• Fast: Take 100 pictures accurately in 5 – 10 minutes (Instead of 45 mins)
• Calibration: ability to digitally render entire accident scene into CAD drawings for admission into court or case file
• High Quality for HD resolution and zoom

“When you look at the conventional methods, you’re looking at time,” says James Addison, a forensic reconstructionist in the private sector and retired police lieutenant. “You’re under a lot of pressure…To have a freeway closed for 5 or 6 hours to investigate a scene creates a lot of tension.”

In a study by Unmanned Experts, Drew Jurkofsky, a Colorado police officer and accident reconstructionist with nearly 20 years experience, found that ‘Using a drone for accident documentation instead of traditional methods cut time spent in the roadway to nearly one fifth, and measuring time to around one third.’


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