Iowa first responders turned to a new colleague when
searching for missing boaters.
CNN July 15, 2016
A 20-person team was searching for a grandfather and
granddaughter who were stranded in a logjam on the East Fork of the Des Moines
River. David Penton, emergency management coordinator for Kossuth County, could
faintly hear the cries of the missing persons, but the setting sun was making
it more difficult to see them amid the thickly wooded riverbank.
So Penton called a colleague and had him rush to the scene
with a drone.
Within three minutes of takeoff, they'd found the duo by
watching the live stream from the DJI Phantom's camera. The drone then hovered
overhead so that the first responders could use its location to guide them to
the grandfather and granddaughter.
Penton said he expected the victims would have been found
without the drone, but using it allowed them to find them faster. Once
discovered, the man fell to his knees as he was suffering from a heart attack.
"Without the help of that drone, time could've been an
issue for him," Penton said.
The man, Thomas Fitzpatrick, was rushed to a hospital.
Penton said late Thursday that Fitzpatrick was expected to be upgraded from
critical to stable condition.
Drones are proving valuable to people such as Penton, who
can benefit from inexpensive aerial photos and videos. Drones are expected to
become increasingly common in August as the federal
government's rules for commercial drone use will go into effect. The
drone industry estimates that by 2025, drones will lead to 100,000 new jobs and
an economic impact of $82 billion.
Since acquiring the drone in May, Penton had only used it in
test flights. He said the drone performed so well that he plans to get a second
one. The drone Penton relied on -- a DJI Phantom -- weighs three pounds and
costs about $1,000.
"It gave that patient or that victim reassurance that
they have been found," Penton said of the missing persons first seeing a
drone hovering overhead. "We're here. We've rolled out every asset that we
have to find them."
