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Drones are widely recognized as an indispensible tool in firefighting.  Now, researchers from George Mason University are working on a drone and wearable sensor solution that can locate each firefighter working in a burning building – and notify their team if they're in trouble.

For the third time, autonomous drone technology leader Everdrone has made the list of Ny Teknik's Top 33 Most Promising Tech Companies in Sweden.

Another student competition for designing an air tanker has concluded.

$2.7 million has been granted to 5 universities in FAA drone research awards, which will support work on leveraging drone technology for disaster preparedness and emergency response.

NASA's STEReO (Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations) project, led by the Ames Research Center, has developed a prototype of a drone pilot's kit intended to help scale up the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for disaster response applications.

Spright, an Air Methods subsidiary, is performing critical missions in North America, providing emergency medical services to more than 100,000 patients across 48 states.  Spright is their drone division – created to help solve many of the time sensitive challenges that the medical logistics industry faces.

A federal judge has struck down a Texas drone law, one of the most restrictive in the country, for violating the First Amendment's protections of freedom of speech and the press.

Skyfire Announces SF2 Drone for Public Safety and Critical Sector Missions

Two N.C. Department of Transportation programs combined to be the first in the nation to launch an innovative technology pilot with their safety service patrol that should improve safety on North Carolina roadways.

Technology Tension
A conversation with Coast Guard Researchers

BRINC Drones to Sponsor Leading Robotics Summit offering critical drone training for public safety personnel.

21-year old BRINC CEO Blake Resnick is the creator of the Lemur line of drone solutions – and the successful company behind them.  Now, Resnick is the youngest person named to this year's prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.

Dutch aviation technology pioneer Avy has launched the first Drone Response Network to combine docking stations with autonomous aircraft that possess vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities. The network's implementation provides 'drone coverage' within a certain area, allowing for instant deployment to support medical deliveries or emergency services during critical incidents. It's fit for purpose and ready for roll out, with first flights taking place in the first quarter of 2022.

Near Earth Autonomy and L3Harris Technologies have announced a successful demonstration of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that can autonomously deliver life-saving blood and other medical supplies hundreds of miles away from operational bases to medics in the field.

The centre will be used to support cargo drones delivering urgent/ medical and emergency supplies/ precious supplies to remote areas of Northeast.

The use of drones for fighting wildfires is a "hot" topic, with more than 6 million acres of forest burned this year. When they are used by emergency responders they have proven to help suppress and contain massive blazes, and save lives on the ground and in the air.

Firefighters and police drone team has been using the V-Line tethered system for the
Mavic 2 drone in a variety of situations on land. Today, Volarious launch a new product called the V-Line boat mode.
It can also be used in coastline surveillance, search & rescue operations. A drone can take off, follow, and land on small vessels autonomously while providing a real-time elevated view of high resolution thermal & RGB images and video streams at the comfort of the cabin.

The urban air mobility market is projected to grow to USD 17,269.71 million by 2035, registering a CAGR of 17.81% during the forecast period (2021-2035). The growing traffic congestion issues, especially in larger cities, globally, are propelling the need for faster modes of intracity transportation. In this regard, the urban air mobility concept is gaining importance. There are many R&D investments in the urban air mobility industry, with many start-ups and aerospace players eyeing this market as one of the high growth potentials. With the growing emphasis on environmentally friendly and economically sustainable technologies in mobility, players are mainly focusing on developing eVTOL (electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft, whereas other players are looking beyond electricity to alternative energy sources, like hydrogen fuel cells. Therefore, such factors are expected to drive the growth of the market in focus during the forecast period.

The real-word danger faced by first responders has been highly visible in 2021, from tragic scenes of search and rescue, to a national surge of active, mass shooter situations. BRINC, an American technology company building a new class of drones in response to the mass shooting at The Mandalay Bay, today announced that it has raised $25 million in Series A funding for its mission to keep people safe in dangerous situations.

Armed with fire-retardant clothing, a helmet, headlamp, and flashlight, NASA's Joey Mercer spent a night in August scrambling over rocks. He was in the woods of Northern California shadowing a team fighting the Dixie fire – the second-largest wildfire in the state's history to date. In September, he and teammates made their way to three more California wildfire events, watching and learning as firefighters on the ground used small uncrewed aircraft to help battle blazes from above.
Mercer is the principal investigator for the Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations, or STEReO, project at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. His team is designing software and communication tools to help disaster responders work more safely and efficiently. Part of their approach is to scale up the use of unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, also called drones.

The police department in the city of Austin, Texas plans to create a new Robotics Unit to oversee the operations of its drone fleet.
Within the next several months, the Austin Police Department is expected to request that the City Council approve funding for the creation of the unit, Assistant Chief Scott Perry said in an interview.

Urban Aeronautics, the Israel-based aerospace company behind CityHawk, the advanced, compact eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle) with a distinct, wingless exterior and patented fully-enclosed Fancraft™ rotor system, today announced the first $10 million towards their next round. The added funds come after the latest successful test flights for the company's tech demonstrator in early July, showcasing the CityHawk's capabilities for smooth vertical takeoff, landing, and short-distance flight in wind conditions, which is a key step on the path to commercial production for inner-city air travel. Private investors from the USA, Brazil and Israel participated in the round.

If you've ever wondered exactly how drones get used during a public safety mission, the new Skydio video series is worth watching.

While topics related to Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) systems and U-space have been a major part of both Commercial UAV Expo Americas and Commercial UAV Expo Europe, a new connection for these events to Amsterdam Drone Week has enabled such discussions to be highlighted in a whole new manner. The Advanced Air Mobility Summit that was part of the conference program for the Commercial UAV Expo Americas event highlighted the benefits that these connections can enable in the short and long term.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is stepping up global co-operation on the use of humanitarian drones, which are a game-changer for fast, accurate, disaster impact assessment and response. With growing threats from famine and climate change, it is hoped a new online platform will help respond to the challenges ahead, as currently being demonstrated in the response to tropical storm Eloise in Mozambique.

Picture the scene. A person has collapsed outside. Paramedics have arrived and they're helping a doctor assess their patient. Suddenly there's a buzzing sound from the sky and, as they look upward, a futuristic, drone-like flying ambulance bursts through the low cloud cover and begins to descend to the streets below.

The Sheriff's Office is requesting public comments and input regarding the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones).

Drones are widely used to take amazing aerial photos, or to inspect infrastructure and crops. But in the future it is hoped they can increasingly be deployed to help firefighters or search and rescue operations in emergency situations.

With flame-ravaged Bay Area communities still mired in a tough recovery after California's worst fire season destroyed more than 1,000 Bay Area homes, a Silicon Valley startup says its artificially intelligent firefighting drones could help stop future catastrophes.

Drone delivery of goods and critical services via mobile networks is a step closer following successful testing by Vodafone and Ericsson.

The Brookhaven Police Department is launching itself into a new world of drone policing, with the aerial robots set to respond to 911 calls in a program officials say will save time and money. But that also means flying into uncharted territory of legal and ethical implications, as experts say there are no national standards for police drones.

Using drones to help in the detection, containment, and extinguishing of fires is rapidly becoming a widely adopted solution by first responders. While many find drones to be a helpful tool to keep overwatch of teams on the ground for improved situational awareness, or to put out fires, the Fire Weather Research Laboratory (FWRL) at San Jose State University is looking into a subject most people neglect: the vertical profile in the wind.

Under the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program earlier this week, Iris Automation conducted a live drone flight demonstration for the City of Reno Fire Department of its Casia onboard Detect-and-Avoid collision avoidance system, which enables safe beyond visual line of sight drone operations.

Volansi Inc., a leading drone delivery provider, is piloting the delivery of cold chain medicines from Merck's Wilson, N.C. manufacturing site to Vidant Healthplex-Wilson, a Vidant Health clinic.

One of the world's top drone-market analysts named North Dakota's SkySkopes as the #1 drone service provider in the U.S., as well as one of the best globally.

A missing 93-year-old Missouri woman was found safe thanks to a drone and thermal cameras.

A multi-agency task force of public safety drone teams has been supporting local agencies and residents impacted by California wildfires with high-resolution aerial imagery of damaged areas.

Manatee County, Florida, may become the first local government entity in the country to use its emergency 9-1-1 system to dispatch the delivery of emergency medical supplies by drone for people suffering from heart attacks or other serious medical emergencies.

Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla., in collaboration with Total Defense Resource Strategies, recently demonstrated the use of a drone to disperse a COVID-19 disinfectant at the newly constructed student union that opened last month.

Some of the most exciting potential applications come from the use of drones in the delivery of essential, healthcare and medical deliveries at customers' doorsteps.

Small unmanned aircraft systems are helping agents track more undocumented immigrants, a division chief with the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector said recently.

Skyward, a Verizon company, has been awarded a temporary waiver from the FAA that allows its pilots to fly the Percepto Sparrow drone from their homes to inspect critical communications infrastructure near the Big Hollow wildfire in Washington.

Walmart announced recently that it will pilot drone delivery of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits, which is a new way to provide additional, and contactless, testing options.

Manatee County officials are partnering with a private drone company to become one of the first government agencies in the nation to use autonomous drones as part of a 911 emergency response.

Somewhere around the world firefighters are gearing up to tackle a wildfire. To manage the rapid, unpredictable and destructive spread, firefighters are opting for sophisticated resources and innovative technology -- Drones

Drones were a hot topic from analysts in 2014. Predictions included the concept of drones taking over the military, the extinction of helicopters due to obscurity, and small unmanned flying drones replacing food and mail delivery services. With all of the planning and even some government approvals, it makes one wonder, where are all the drones?

Bridger Aerospace has been operating an unmanned aerial system (UAS) on wildfires this year that first went into production in 2019 built by L3 Latitude Engineering.

Live flights and testing of components are scheduled to begin this month at the unmanned aircraft test site in Rome, N.Y., in the second phase of a federal program to develop a high-density air traffic control system for drones.

Aerial ignition to fight wildfires used to be done by helicopters. Now, as part of an increasingly progressive firefighting strategy honed by the Bureau of Land Management and adopted by the Forest Service and National Interagency Fire Center, drones are handling airborne firebombing and more.