Drones’ assistance in fire service response

Earmarking drones to distinct apparatus to ensure incident commanders can dictate the drone's deployment when needed on scene.

The fire service is dynamically revamping its response to emergencies that are increasing in both severity and complexity. The Thomas Fire in California, for instance, was a massive wildfire that destroyed more than 1,000 structures – 500 in the first few hours of the conflagration. The fire wiped out thousands of acres of hillside vegetation, leading to devastating mudslides that killed 20 people. Assisting in response efforts to complex natural calamities, new technologies can provide responders with augmented situational awareness and response capabilities.

MERITS OF STATIONING DRONES DURING RESPONSE

Drones can yield many benefits for emergency responders. For example, as unit arrive on-scene, drones can provide a comprehensive picture of the initial incident. This helps commander determine the magnitude of the incident, its gravity, preliminary resources requirement, and the overall response objectives. For example, the Conway Volunteer Fire Department in Missouri recently installed a drone over a multiple vehicle accident on a major interstate to assess the scope of the incident and determine a potent response plan.

It is not always feasible to capture a complete 360-degree view, due to the inaccessible location of the incident. Here drones as Quality Safety Equipment help incident commanders fill in information gaps by capturing images about response operations in real-time. Incident commanders get acknowledged about the real-time conditions of the scene, along with progress of current response efforts. This helps them adjusting tactical decisions to meet the current situation.

Besides providing real-time information, drones can be scheduled to record operations. These recordings can be used for after-action assessments, pinpointing future training needs, or even to provide detailed information to local media so the community has an accurate viewpoint of the emergency.

This initiative will certainly boost the rescue methodologies and will cushion the risk constraint apparently. It has proven the fact that creative utilization of technology pays off well in the social welfare, all you need to do is channelize it in constructive manner.

Source: http://bit.ly/2pgrbtf

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