How Drones Can Aid Search & Rescue

In one of our previous articles on the history of drones we mentioned that the first invented drone was used for war purposes. The objective was to drop explosives on the enemies. Luckily, times have changed so did the purpose of drones. We use them for entertainment and educational reasons, to take great aerial videos and shoot amazing pictures. But more than that, they also help save lives, and below we will show a few examples where drones come into action:

Natural Disaster Moments

Floods and Earthquakes are inevitable in many areas. Take California, for example. Due to its position on San Andreas fault line, California is the most earthquake-prone area of the United States. Using drones during natural disasters can save not only time, but a live. These unmanned aircrafts are making finding earthquake survivors faster and easier than ever before. A drone can reach any area quicker than any vehicle or foot patrolling. And due to its small size, drones can often be more effective than a helicopter or other manned aircrafts.

Saving lives during floods

When there is a flood situation, many areas are disconnected and the roads and train tracks are impossible to use. A quick rescue operation is required to save human lives and transmit the required items like medicines, food, drinking water, clothes, and blankets, etc.

Saving lives during earthquakes

When there is an earthquake sometimes it's more difficult to reach people. In a recent article by Wired, they reveal how China is fighting back against earthquakes. Flying high makes disaster response faster and more effective.

In case of a flood or an earthquake, we can study and analyse the situation of the area where we can reach quickly by using drones, which can point the precise location.

Lost / Missing Hikers and Mountain Climbers

Most of us have probably seen movies like the biographical survival drama called 127 hours, when a hiker loses his grip and falls, knocking a boulder which traps his right hand and wrist against the wall. Imagine only, in examples like these, where climbers and hikers get either trapped, lost or wounded, a drone can cover so much more area and have a much higher chance finding the person.

One of the biggest drone rescue news was from 2017, after hiking the Devil's Head trail in Colorado for several hours, two men and their dog found themselves lost after mistakenly leaving the trail. The rescue team used a drone to locate the missing hikers and were able to make contact with the hikers in just a few hours.

In one of the interviews back in 2019, Romeo Durscher, Senior Director of the public safety in San Jose, California, stated that they have saved 279 lives in the United States by using drones in rescue operations. No need to mention that these statistics have been recorded and documented; that too in America only.

Romeo Durscher, DJI’s Director of Public Safety Integration, described drones as a ‘priceless’ tool for search and rescue missions.

And we are sure the number would be so high in the other parts of the world as drones are one of the most used tools while handling the situations of natural disasters all over the world.