Drones: Incident Response & Decision-Making

A good read, Where Wayne Baker emphasizes that the use of drones for emergency incidents must be balanced with proven human methods.

Standard aerial imagery from drones enhances scene size-up, and thermal aerial imagery helps to improve searches and to mitigate risks to firefighters. That said, the technology shouldn't replace ground-level strategies and tactics.

Firehouse.com  Wayne Baker May 1, 2020

Throughout my career as a firefighter/paramedic, I trained and prepared extensively to respond to a variety of incidents. Later, as a fire chief and an emergency management coordinator, I prepared to coordinate and facilitate incident response at a broader level. 

No matter the incident or my role, having enough actionable data and information to make the right incident action plan was a challenge. I sought tools, techniques and technology that would make my crews better informed for efficient and safe operations.

For me, drone technology and its associated tools and tactics became one of the most significant advances for this information-gathering on incident response.

Although the adoption of this technology by public safety has been rapid, many questions still surround the use of drone technology in incident response and decision-making, for example: What tactics and techniques exist for utilizing drones on incidents? What tools can be used in information-gathering? How do you analyze and act upon data? Of increasing importance, how do we better maintain aircraft? Answers to these questions will continue to evolve as the technology continues to improve. Read More