Responding to
disasters is a critical function for first responders and emergency management.
(Price, 2016) “Whether conducting a search and rescue operation for a lost
hiker or assisting public agencies during a major flood event, drones can play
an essential role during emergency response” (NCDOT, 2017).
In Price’s
article titled “UAS for Emergency Management” (2016) he talks about how the advancement
of UAS technology has created a ripe environment for the necessary transformation
of disaster and emergency first response activities. Application of UAS for
these efforts range from recovery, relief, and mission person searches to
damage assessments (Price, 2016). Overseas, UAS have been influential in enabling
quick and safe responses to the Fukushima nuclear accident and the Haiyan
Typhoon in the Philippines (Aasand, 2015). However here in the US, UAS have yet
to reach their full potential due to a slew of issues, but most notably NAS access
(Price, 2016). “The
timeframe required to obtain a COA is mission prohibitive for real-time
response to disasters and presents a significant barrier to agencies that may
be interested in using UASs for immediate disaster response missions” (Price,
2016). One state this year decided to do something
about that! The North Carolina Department of Transportation established best
practices and recommended policies to support immediate, safe integration of UASs
into the NAS (Lillian, 2017). These policies set in motion a safe and effective
way to aid first responders and emergency management personnel in executing
disaster and emergency operations. It is clear that if such barriers can be
removed, the true benefits of using UASs (to save lives) can be realized.
There
are several advantages for using an UAS when compared to manned aircraft
ranging from risk reduction, cost, operation, and persistence. Disaster and
emergency responses can incur high levels of risks for manned aircraft (Aasand,
2015). While UASs on the other, substantially lowers that risk because aircrews
are removed from imminent dangers posed by the disaster or emergency situation
at hand (Barnard, 2009 & Lillian, 2017). Furthermore, UASs are fairly
inexpensive, and the cost per hour (associated with maintenance and fuel) is
less than 20% when compared to manned aircraft (Barnard, 2009). As for UAS operations,
they provide quicker response times by deploying from virtually anywhere day or
night, can navigate unreachable locations more easily and at lower altitudes,
for example: dangerous terrain or in areas were toxic, radioactive or unknown gases
would otherwise risk human life to navigate (Barnard, 2009; Price 2016 &
Lillian, 2017)! Additionally, UAS can be re-tasked at a moment’s notice because
the command & control center is co-located with the operator. This is
important because information is the essence of the C2 node. By combing that
capability with the UAS, it offers a more centralized and coordinated approach.
As for payloads, it can be operation dependent and depending on the design of
the UAS, it can be a very easy process to tailor payloads to the situation (Price,
2016). UASs make the process of disaster and emergency management operations easier, tailorable, persistent
over longer distances, and safe.
References:
Aasand,
E. 2015. American Red Cross, Measure study UAVs for
disaster relief. Retrieved
from http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/1079/american-red-cross-measure-study-uavs-for-disaster-relief
Barnard,
J. 2009. Unmanned Aircraft for Disaster Management. Retrieved from https://artes-apps.esa.int/sites/default/files/8.%20Barnard_%20UA%20in%20Disaster%20Management%20OUTPUT%20V2.pdf
Lillian,
B. 2017. North Carolina DOT Comes up with Best Practices for UAS in First
Response. Retrieved from http://unmanned-aerial.com/north-carolina-dot-comes-best-practices-uas-first-response
North
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). 2017. NCDOT Establishes Best
Practices for Drone Use in Disaster Response. Retrieved from https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=13630
Price,
D. 2016. Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Emergency Management. Retrieved from https://www.domesticpreparedness.com/resilience/unmanned-aircraft-systems-for-emergency-management/
