Caught in rough surf far from shore, stranded swimmers might hope for a lifeguard to appear amid the waves.
But for two men recently rescued off the coast of
Australia's Lennox Head, New South Wales (NSW), a different kind of savior
showed up: a drone.
In what's being hailed as a first-of-its-kind rescue, the
new lifesaving device -- the Little Ripper UAV -- flew into action after
someone spotted the swimmers in distress in a nearly 10-foot (3-meter) swell
more than a half mile (about 1 kilometer) off a patrolled area, Surf Life
Saving NSW said in a news release.
Within minutes, lifeguards piloted the drone to the men and
dropped an inflatable life preserver.
The two clung to the rescue pod and made it to shore, where
lifeguards were waiting, Surf Life Saving NSW said. They were exhausted but
unharmed. And the drone had recorded the whole rescue.
"The Little Ripper UAV certainly proved itself today.
It is an amazingly efficient piece of lifesaving equipment and a delight to
fly," said Lifeguard Supervisor Jai Sheridan, who piloted the drone during
the rescue.
"I was able to launch it, fly it to the location, and
drop the pod all in about 1 to 2 minutes," he said. "On a normal day,
that would have taken our lifeguards a few minutes longer to reach."
The rescue, which happened as lifeguards from the Australian
Lifeguard Service were preparing for a training session with the brand-new
drone fleet, was lauded as groundbreaking.
"Never before has a drone fitted with a flotation
device been used to rescue swimmers like this," Deputy State Premier John
Barilaro told the BBC.
The NSW government invested $430,000 in funding to Surf Life
Saving NSW for the drone project, the organization said.
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