A search and rescue exercise was carried out on February 3rd, 2018. The purpose was to find volunteer victims who were pretending to be lost. The team of rescue operators used drones, dogs, horses, and boats for the exercise. They were joined by firefighters and law enforcement officers in the operation to find lost volunteer victims.

The first victim was found along the shore of Lake Somerville only six minutes into the exercise. The victim was found by a fixed-wing drone flown by David Merrick from the Center of Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR). Merrick attributed his find to sheer luck. He said that his attention was divided between sighting aircraft and the on-screen display. He noted that he just happened to have looked at his screen when his drone (Disco) flew 300 feet over the victim.

All rescuers had split up into teams and we’re searching through the thick underbrush and hiking trails on foot. They used trained search dogs and were joined by volunteers on horseback. The Bryan fire department put together its own rescue team about a year ago (10 certified remote pilots and 4 aircraft systems). They received some help from CRASAR.

Robert Murphy is the head of CRASAR and has been studying and promoting the use of robotic assistance in rescue and emergency operations for years. The local area firefighters and law enforcement officials worked with the team that included the Florida State University’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program.  Search and rescue teams covered assigned areas on foot. Even with the thick and thorny underbrush, they made sure to leave the park clean and undisturbed as much as possible after the exercise.

Many lessons can be learned from real-world disasters. So using drone technology in a search and rescue operation is still a work in progress. There are no guidelines or procedures and operators simply adapted to the situation as the events unfold. The team began the exercise by launching a small drone which took a quick look around and made it easy for them to use the best route for the search. The drone was able to check and clear larger areas faster.

During the exercise, a DJI Mavic Pro flew low so it could spot people and kept its camera at a 45-degree angle. It descended to assess man-made objects to see if there were people underneath. Massive land areas were inspected in just a few minutes.  The Bryan fire department also outfitted their drone with thermal imaging cameras so that they could differentiate living things from inanimate objects.

Overall it was a success and we can expect to see more towns and municipalities using drones for future search and rescue missions.