Drones are leading in providing the bird’s eye view and are always ready to help whenever needed. Chad Tillman, the Deputy Director of the Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad, said that they now have a drone unit to assist on searches and rescues.
“We put the drone up to 200 feet, looked up the river, came down, and I kid you not after the secondary review, there was our kayaker!” said Tillman.
“When we put a boat out on the water, we are putting our rescuers lives in danger. We are putting them in the same water we want everybody to stay out of, and we want the UAS to be able to put that eye in the sky to make a better judgement on the safest way we can reach the people who are in danger,” added Tillman.
“You can’t drive there, but I can fly there. You can’t get your rescue truck in there, but I can fly in there. And that’s where the lives are going to be saved,” explains Phil Owen, EnrGies Director of Operations.
The rescue squad is working with a new company, UAS Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (UAS ISAO) for training and certification. For the long-term goal, Tillman and Owen want to see drones used in national response to crises including flooding, storm aftermath, and search and rescue. “The Alabama Working Group is very focused on the ability to get these systems together to be able to get them out and deploy them. We are working with FEMA Region 4,” said Tillman.
Source: https://bit.ly/2JVuBPi