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.
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.
