Got a Call for a Search and rescue

[Lapeer20m]

my phone rang a couple days ago, about 2 hours before sunset.

It was a supervisor for the county EMS service. He explained that emergency services were responding for a missing elderly person who wandered away and wanted to know if i was available to fly my mavic.

I grabbed my stuff and headed out. They called just before i arrived on scene to let me know they found the person.

I didn’t actually get to fly but I was excited that I’m on the list of people to call when you need an eye in the sky.

The next day I familiarized myself with “gs pro” and practiced letting mavic fly a grid while “searching” with goggles.

 

[NordicMan]

Wow I'd be very excited to get a call like that! What sort of terrain was the search going to cover?

 

[Mossiback]

...The next day I familiarized myself with “gs pro” and practiced letting mavic fly a grid while “searching” with goggles.

I would be very wary of using any automatic flight mode for a search. If setup properly it could work well but I could see a quick setup and deployment in an unfamiliar area leading to a crash while you are looking at the ground instead of where you are flying.

Perhaps it would reduce the crash risk if you included in your flight setup the occasional pause to look around for obstacles.

Oh, I almost forgot, that's very cool for you to get involved with EMS.

 

[Lapeer20m]

Wow I'd be very excited to get a call like that! What sort of terrain was the search going to cover?

It was over a swampy, mostly wooded area. The leaves are just starting to come alive on the trees so I’m not sure how great of a job mavic would be able to do in the thicker forest areas, but there are always clearings and places with fewer trees.

 

[Lapeer20m]

I would be very wary of using any automatic flight mode for a search. If setup properly it could work well but I could see a quick setup and deployment in an unfamiliar area leading to a crash while you are looking at the ground instead of where you are flying.

Perhaps it would reduce the crash risk if you included in your flight setup the occasional pause to look around for obstacles.

Oh, I almost forgot, that's very cool for you to get involved with EMS.

I agree that autonomous flight modes can increase the risk to the uas and others. The best case scenario would be to utilize a visual observer while using goggles.

Setting up a grid for mavic to fly autonomously would likely be the most efficient method to conduct a thorough search.

 

[rangemaster728]

I just looked at the DJI site regarding GS Pro...it does not list the Mavic Pro as a compatible platform.

Does it work with the Mavic??

 

[matap]

How did you get on a list like that. I wouldn't mind helping our local first responders should the need arise.

 

[Lapeer20m]

I just looked at the DJI site regarding GS Pro...it does not list the Mavic Pro as a compatible platform.

Does it work with the Mavic??

Yes it works with mavic. I think the app is only available for iPad, not for iPhone btw.

 

[Lapeer20m]

How did you get on a list like that. I wouldn't mind helping our local first responders should the need arise.

Story time...

It’s kind of a crazy story where I took a little risk. One morning as I was sitting in my Jeep getting ready to leave work I saw on Facebook that there was some major incident involving the county swat team and it happened to be pretty much on my way home.

I decided to stop and ask if a drone would be at all useful, having no idea what kind of incident they were even dealing with.

My guess was 90% that the first officer I ran into would be angry and tell me to go away.

I show up. It’s freezing. The street is littered with police cars and nobody is around. There was a “mobile command center” parked on the side of the road. It is essentially a large motorhome. I walked up to the door and was ready to knock, thinking there may be someone inside. Then i chickened out and walked back to my Jeep. Again i changed my mind and walked back to the motorhome and knocked. I was surprised when the door opened and there were a slew of officers inside, including the undersheriff and chief of police. I told them that I had a drone with live streaming video and they could use it if it would be helpful.

They were dealing with a barricade gunman and thought that it would be most helpful if i could look in the windows of a house that was probably a quarter mile away, but in clear los.

I couldn’t see anything. Turns out he was hiding in the closet.

I provided them my name and number and a copy of the footage. This ems guy remembered me from that incident.

 

[DroningOn]

Story time...

It’s kind of a crazy story where I took a little risk. One morning as I was sitting in my Jeep getting ready to leave work I saw on Facebook that there was some major incident involving the county swat team and it happened to be pretty much on my way home.

I decided to stop and ask if a drone would be at all useful, having no idea what kind of incident they were even dealing with.

My guess was 90% that the first officer I ran into would be angry and tell me to go away.

I show up. It’s freezing. The street is littered with police cars and nobody is around. There was a “mobile command center” parked on the side of the road. It is essentially a large motorhome. I walked up to the door and was ready to knock, thinking there may be someone inside. Then i chickened out and walked back to my Jeep. Again i changed my mind and walked back to the motorhome and knocked. I was surprised when the door opened and there were a slew of officers inside, including the undersheriff and chief of police. I told them that I had a drone with live streaming video and they could use it if it would be helpful.

They were dealing with a barricade gunman and thought that it would be most helpful if i could look in the windows of a house that was probably a quarter mile away, but in clear los.

I couldn’t see anything. Turns out he was hiding in the closet.

I provided them my name and number and a copy of the footage. This ems guy remembered me from that incident.

Good story. Just goes to show the “authorities” (police, govt bureaucrats, local politicians etc.) are just making up the rules as they go.