Beneficial Uses for Drones

Reader Contribution by Bruce Mcelmurray
Published on September 30, 2015
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We live in the southern part of our state and some volunteers who picked up firewood to distribute to those who can not get it for themselves came all the way from the northern part of our state to haul away firewood we set aside. As they were loading three cords of firewood, one of the volunteers commented about drones. All I knew about drones was that they were used to spy on people, they interfered with normal air traffic, that they were developing them to deliver packages and they were being used for military purposes.

The gentleman who was so enthused over this technology started to inform me of the positive uses they present and how they are a totally new industry much like the cell phone was several years ago. He challenged me to Google their good uses and check out the positive contributions they are being developed for.

Drones for Emergency Response and Wildfires

Not being one to ignore a reasonable challenge, I did some research on drones and was amazed at how they can be utilized in so many different ways. They can be used to survey areas to develop more accurate maps. They can be equipped with heat sensors and used in search and rescue at far less cost than putting people out there searching for those lost.

Here in the mountains, we frequently have people lost in the mountains and finding them with drones would be a major plus. They are already being used to investigate wildfires and determine needs and personnel or equipment to help fight them. They can be used to access disaster areas to assess needs and deliver medical and survival supplies. They can be used as support for ambulances as they don’t have to fight traffic congestion and can be faster plus deliver defibrillators or other critical medical supplies to victims.

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