Over the last few weeks, the news has been full of people discussing the way in which drones are currently being utilised to benefit society. From finding missing people to tracking and stopping fires, we have collated some of the recent stories in which drones have been used in fantastic ways.
RNLI To Use Drones To Support Search & Rescue Activity
The RNLI have announced the start of a year-long drone trial with their partners, Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Essex Police. Through the trial, the police force’s drones will be operational assets that the Maritime & Coastguard Agency can call upon to assist with searches along the Essex coastline, potentially helping to save lives.
The trial follows the week long test event which the RNLI ran with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, where the use of drones was trialled in a variety of real-life rescue scenarios. As well as helping the RNLI lifesavers to search and locate casualties, working with Essex Police’s drone unit will allow potentially dangerous scenes to be risk assessed before volunteer lifeboat crews are deployed to the scene.
Will Roberts, Senior Innovation Manager at the RNLI stated:
“The increased situational awareness that drones provide could play a significant role in helping us locate casualties as quickly as possible. When lives are at risk, the speed at which our crews can locate and reach a casualty is vital”.
DJI Drones Used To Help Track and Stop The Notre Dame Fire
On Monday 15th April a devastating fire started in Notre-Dame Paris, France. Notre Dame cathedral was consumed by a fire which claimed the famed cathedral’s roof and spine. The 12th century building is on of the most enduring images of Paris and the site of a number of France’s most important historical events.
Following the incident, Parisian firefighters revealed that they had used DJI drones to track the progression of the fire and to find the best positions to aim fire hoses. By flying DJI Mavic Pro and Matrice M210 drones over the Notre Dame cathedral, they were able to get essential data for taming the flames.
Gabriel Plus, fire brigade spokesman, informed local media that drones were instrumental in saving the cathedrals structure. He commented:
“The drones allowed us to correctly use what we had at our disposal.”
Police To Use Drones in Aberdeen and Inverness Operations
From 1st May, officers within both Aberdeen and Inverness will be the first officers in Scotland to use drones within their operations. Police Scotland have said that the ‘state of the art’ drones will allow for faster searches of large areas. Missing people operations are huge part of police work, as last year 3,494 people were reported missing in the North East and 2,343 in Highlands and Islands. The drones will be operated and trained, uniformed in searches of urban and rural areas, and also in support of ‘local policing incidents and pre-planned operations and events.’
Chief Superintendent Matt Richards, Head of Specialist Services, said:
“The addition of the RPAS to our air support capability will ensure we can deliver this service to the north of the country when previously weather or terrain may have prevented or delayed this. The RPAS will not replace the Police Scotland helicopter and there will still be occasions where we deploy the helicopter in the north rather than the RPAS”.
Coverdrone has already positioned itself to cope with the future insurance drone requirements and believe that drones can only continue to support society. We are looking forward to seeing future valuable drone operations in ways we may not have considered.