Drones Save Lives Of Emergency Workers

Drones Save Lives Of Emergency Workers

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Almost half of police forces and two thirds of fire services all across the UK are now either using drones or are planning to phase them in soon, Sky News reports. The goal is to increase working potential and to save lives, says Steve Richards, station manager at the Mid and West Wales Fire Service. To this end, Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) – specialised ambulance crews – will also be equipped with drones by year end.

Drones are already being used for search and rescue operations, fire and accident investigations, and a few other specialised mission profiles. But they could be used for much more.

“It gives you the whole picture so when you go to an incident with (drones) we can actually do a 360 observation and stay in a safe place… it’s putting the drone up instead of having to put the firefighters in there,” says Richards.

The rollout does not come cheap, with the Sussex and Surrey police forces alone being given almost £250,000 ($365,500) from the government to expand a drone trial to protect Gatwick Airport in the country’s south.

To best use the drones, the government is employing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) training company Sky Futures to bring emergency forces up to scratch. And they’re really preparing for any possibility.

“We have a marauding gunman terrorist scenario, which is fairly relevant these days, as well as a train crash, a downed aircraft, and a missing Alzheimer’s patient, among others,” said Frankie Suarez, a drone pilot trainer for Sky Futures.