15 Oct Drones Aid In Search and Rescue

Every day we hear of stories of people going missing. In your local Wal*Mart there is usually a bulletin board that is dedicated for missing people. Once again, there is a use for drones that is making life easier for people. In this case, they are being used for search and rescue.  Here at V-drone, we are amazed more and more every day at the wide range of uses that drones provide.

What makes drones attractive to searchers and rescuers is their ability to fly in, move around and get out of disasters zones and hard-to-reach sites without the danger of putting real pilots and crew in harm’s way, and at a fraction of the cost of using a helicopter or plane. Drones can be used to get real-time overhead footage of a disaster area that can be used to assess the damage and look for survivors. In addition, drones can carry medical and other supplies into quarantined or inaccessible locales to deliver them to folks in need.

Drones have already been used in places like Haiti and the Philippines to map areas after a natural disaster. After the super typhoon in 2013 in the Philippines, searchers and rescuers used a small UAV equipped with a high-resolution camera to scout out a safe place to base their operations. These drones filmed roads in order to determine which were passable as well as searching for survivors.

In Wisconsin, a hobbyist lent his drone to an effort to locate a missing 82-year old woman. Search teams with dogs and a helicopter team had already spent three days trying to find the lady before the drone.

Of course, there are still hurdles to overcome when using drones. The trouble in the US is getting the permission to use the drones but this is starting to become easier. Although here at V-drone we use our drones for film and production, we love the accessibility and uses of drones. If you need a qualified drone team that can get any job done, contact V-drone today.