Conservation, medical delivery, disaster response — the missions where drones save the day.
Hillsborough County commissioners decide September 2 whether the nation's first EMS whole blood drone program flies in October. The wire coverage already calls it launched.
An Everdrone drone delivered a defibrillator before the ambulance at a Borås cardiac arrest. A bystander shocked the man's heart back, and he survived.
Satellites that spot a classroom-sized fire and pilotless water bombers like Marcos Aerospace's Quencher point one way: the first 30 minutes of a wildfire belong to unmanned aircraft.
A PolAir Remote drone flown from Bankstown Airport — 300 miles away — spotted a woman leaving a shed during a welfare check in Moree, leading to her arrest for breaching a domestic violence order. Australia's first remotely piloted police drone trial keeps converting flights into arrests.
Santa Ana PD's Eagle 1 drone found a stolen work truck minutes after patrol lost it, watched two suspects load stolen tools, and guided officers straight to them — the first felony arrests of the $682,900 DFR program a divided council approved 4-3 in February.
O'Fallon, Missouri police used a Flock DFR drone to track a fleeing suspect into a storm sewer and guide officers to the exit — search, track, and arrest in under 15 minutes. The two-month-old program has already assisted in 12 felony arrests.
Meteomatics and NOAA flew Meteodrones over Purcell, Oklahoma on July 30, profiling the lowest layers of the atmosphere on demand — the exact altitude band where tornadoes form and where balloons and satellites leave forecasters half blind. Switzerland has 10 sites and Norway is building 30. Oklahoma has one.
Tampa General Hospital and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue are set to launch the nation's first EMS-driven drone program flying whole blood to trauma scenes in under three minutes, covering 70 square miles of Hillsborough County starting this October.
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