According to sUAS News the non-profit DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance was unveiled on April 12 at the UAS DRONES Disaster Conference in Miami to assist law enforcement, fire rescue, search teams, emergency management, and other stakeholders implement UAS technology and maximize its use for life-safety missions.
Led by Chief Charles Werner (ret.), Chairman of the National Council for Public Safety UAS and a nationally-recognized expert surrounding the use of drones by public safety organizations, the DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance will forge partnerships with other organizations across government, industry, and academia to continue the adoption and evolution of UAS.
DRONERESPONDERS will focus primarily on three core missions of:
- PREPAREDNESS:Providing shared education and training capabilities surrounding the development, implementation, management, and flight operations of public safety-related drone programs to help first responders standardize UAS as a tool for everyday missions.
- RESPONSE:Developing and maintaining a global directory of UAS teams, remote pilots, assets, and capabilities that can be deployed when emergencies and disasters strike.
- RESILENCE:Deciphering and standardizing concepts, regulations, and procedures across like-minded organizations around the globe to develop consistent protocols for public safety and emergency management drone operations resulting in more resilient communities.
“Public safety agencies around the globe are yearning for additional knowledge about how they can effectively use drones for life-safety emergency missions,” says Werner. “DRONERESPONDERS will function as a support mechanism to help first responders better navigate the complex unmanned aviation landscape.”
DRONERESPONDERS will strive for standardization while effecting evolution within the public safety UAS realm via a series of three key objectives that support each the DRONERESPONDERS core missions.
The DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance will be run as a program under the AIRT, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed in 2017 to help provide unmanned aviation resources for public safety and disaster response. DRONERESPONDERS will work in cooperation with the National Council on Public Safety UAS (NCPSU). Werner will serve as the DRONERESPONDERS program director, in addition to maintaining his position as chairman of the NCPSU.
“We are thrilled to join Chief Werner in launching the DRONEREPONDERS program,” said Christopher Todd, Executive Director of AIRT. “This is the first step of a combined effort among the whole community to fully integrate UAS for public safety and emergency management.”
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