A coalition of public safety officers and UAV industry partners today announced the formation of the Drone Advocates for Public Safety (DAPS), which will focus on training first responders in using drones to support their operations.
Based on several successful use cases of drones in various life threatening scenarios, DAPS will help officers understand the possibilities for how drones can be used in emergencies.
“The UAV is a game changer for Incident Commanders. In a matter of minutes we can get a full view of an incident from the air allowing us to deploy resources quicker and make decisions based off what we see from a live feed,” said fire chief Jerry Streich, a founding board member of DAPS. “This group will bring professionals together to share ideas and experience to form best practices on the use of UAVs for our industry.”
Additionally the group hopes to raise public awareness of how safety officers use drones to improve their responsiveness and to create a formalized standard of practice based on public feedback.
“The law enforcement sector faces public concern about privacy, and the fire/rescue sector faces concern about nuisance drones and the safety of personnel on the ground. With this group, we hope to address all of these concerns with national, standardized guidance to agencies hoping to adopt this technology,” said Matt Sloane, DAPS Executive Director and CEO of Skyfire Consulting.
Recent events such as rescue operations in Maine and Texas where public safety officials rescued stranded individuals using life jackets attached to drones, highlight the potential of drones in rescue operations. Additionally drone technology has been used to quickly search for lost persons or to gauge the speed of wildfires.
“We are constantly inspired by the public safety workers who put their lives on the line to help rescue others,” said Brendan Schulman, VP of Policy and Legal Affairs at DJI and founding board member of DAPS. “The potential of new technology to help first responders is exciting and we are thrilled to support DAPS as it reaches out to the broader safety community to reduce the time needed to get crucial aerial information in situations where seconds count.”
About DAPS
Drone Advocates for Public Safety is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency dedicated to reducing injuries, deaths and economic damages by ensuring public safety organizations gain access to the newest safety technology.
For more information, visit DroneAdvocates.org
Alan is serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, and a drone enthusiast. He co-founded DRONELIFE.com to address the emerging commercial market for drones and drone technology. Prior to DRONELIFE.com, Alan co-founded Where.com, ThinkingScreen Media, and Nurse.com. Recently, Alan has co-founded Crowditz.com, a leader in Equity Crowdfunding Data, Analytics, and Insights. Alan can be reached at alan(at)dronelife.com
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!