Public Safety Drones Save Four Lives In One Day

At Least 133 People Have Now Been Rescued From Peril By Drones

Editors: Video from three recent drone rescues is available below

DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, marked a new milestone in public safety drone use last week, as four people were rescued by drones in three separate incidents on two continents on a single day. This brings the total number of people rescued from peril by drones around the world to at least 133.

On Thursday, May 31, police and fire departments recorded these three rescues:

• Police in the UK used a drone with a thermal imaging camera to find a missing semiconscious man at the edge of a steep Exmouth cliff face. Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police posted video of the rescue here: https://twitter.com/PoliceDrones/status/1004368785346912256
• An Indiana fire department dropped a life vest to a criminal suspect who had fled into a pond and was struggling to stay afloat. The Wayne Township Fire Department posted video of the rescue here: https://twitter.com/Waynetwpfire/status/1002195763005452290
• Public safety agencies in Hill County, Texas, dropped a life vest to a mother and her 15-year-old daughter who were stranded in a rising river and didn’t know how to swim. News coverage of the rescue is available here: http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Area-dam-shut-down-to-rescue-four-stranded-in-river-484245321.html

This marks the first time three drone rescues occurred in a single day. The previous record was two rescues on February 25, 2018, when the police department in Lincolnshire, UK, used a drone to save the life of an unconscious man in a ditch, while rescuers in São

Paulo, Brazil, used a drone to drop a buoy to a kitesurfer who had lost his board and was struggling in the water.

Police, fire and rescue services, as well as bystanders in the right place at the right time, have used drones to find missing people and deliver supplies to people stranded in water, forests, ditches, mountains and fields. Drones can cover far more area than searchers on land or water, and can use thermal imaging cameras to peer through smoke, fog, darkness or vegetation to find unconscious people. Drones also allow public safety agencies to reduce the risk of injury to rescuers, who might otherwise place themselves in peril on search and rescue missions.

DJI tracks drone rescues reported on traditional and social media to illustrate the lifesaving value of drone technology and demonstrate how wider access to drones has helped improve public safety. DJI has compiled dozens of prior drone rescues, including links to news coverage and videos when available, in two reports available here and here. Public safety agencies which have saved lives with drones in cases that have not been previously reported should contact DJI to include them in this growing tally.