DRONERESPONDERS names
key issues facing first responders while exploring commercial UAS vendor
landscape
MIAMI, FL – The lack of standardized training and
certification is the top issue hampering public safety drone operations,
according to DRONERESPONDERS – the world’s fastest growing non-profit
organization supporting public safety UAS. The determination stems from a
double-validated research initiative based on survey data, as well as live
focus group feedback conducted during last week’s U.S. Public Safety UAS Summit
held at Commercial UAV Expo Americas in Las Vegas.
Released on Monday, the new DRONERESPONDERS report Commercial
Vendors and the Public Safety UAS Sector highlights the top five most important
issues affecting the public safety drone sector as: airspace authorizations and
COA’s; beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, training; standards,
procedures and certifications; and program budgeting. These findings were based
on the DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety UAS Survey conducted between August 25 and
September 16, 2019.
DRONERESPONDERS then conducted focus group testing with
attendees of the U.S. Public Safety UAS Summit to additionally validate the
research findings. These results pointed to the lack of UAS training and
certification standards as being the most pressing issue facing first
responders operating drones. Rounding out the top five were: tactical BVLOS
waivers; public outreach and education of drone operations; budgeting and grant
funding; and data management.
“Up until now there has been widespread speculation that
the lack of standards surrounding drone training and operating certification
could be impacting the progression of public safety UAS programs,” says Chief
Charles Werner (ret.), Director of DRONERESPONDERS. “We now have
double-validated research that proves that hypothesis.”
Werner says that without formalized standards, the UAS
training and certification landscape is like a “patchwork quilt of home-grown
training solutions” which threatens the ability of public safety agencies to
build consistent operating practices between jurisdictions.
Gene Robinson, a Texas-based drone search and rescue
subject matter expert, agrees.
“The end result is that you might have drone teams from
two separate agencies, trained in two entirely different protocols, showing up
and trying to operate together at an incident scene,” claims Robinson. “Without
common standards, flight operations can become extremely difficult while
threatening to create a potentially unproductive and unsafe environment.”
Other key findings from the Commercial Vendors and the
Public Safety UAS Sector report include:
1.
Long flight-time duration, visual zoom, and
thermal/infrared capabilities are the top three desired features by public
safety UAS operators.
2.
Search and rescue (SAR), situational
awareness/live streaming, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
(ISR) are the top three UAS missions ranked in order of importance to first
responders operating drones.
3.
The sweet-spot for manufactures to price a small
UAS with combined visual and thermal/infrared remote sensing capabilities is
between $2,000 and $5,000 USD.
“The DRONERESPONDERS public safety UAS summit really
illustrated how far law enforcement, fire service, and other first responders
have come in adopting unmanned aerial systems for a wide variety of missions,”
said Robinson. “DRONERESPONDERS has set a new standard on what a public safety
drone conference should be.”
To download a complimentary copy of the DRONERESPONDERS Commercial
Vendors and the Public Safety UAS Sector report, visit: http://research.droneresponders.org
About DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance
DRONERESPONDERS is the world’s fastest growing non-profit
program supporting public safety UAS. The DRONERESPONDERS mission is to
facilitate preparedness, response and resilience using unmanned aircraft
systems and related technologies operated by public safety, emergency
management, and non-governmental volunteer organizations around the world. The
DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit operating
program of AIRT, Inc. For more information on DRONERESPONDERS, please visit: http://droneresponders.org
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