It looks like drones are certainly making headlines these days, what with a Drone Racing League kicking off as well that will definitely pique the interest of those who would want nothing better than an adrenaline rush while piloting one of these tiny and fast machines. Apart from entertainment value, what else do drones offer? Could there actually be positives from the situation? It looks like the Footville Fire Department agree, with the acquisition of a brand new drone.
Footville Fire Department’s Captain Kris Ommodt can certainly think up of a myriad of situations where this new drone can see action. Let’s suppose an elderly person who has dementia wanders away from his Rock County home and the family is unable to find him. Footville firefighters can then respond to the distress call by sending this drone out over the nearby fields, and with GPS co-ordinates of the drone relayed over to the folks manning the drone’s controls upon seeing a humanoid figure traversing those lonely fields, they will dispatch actual humans there to the location mentioned and pick up the missing man.
This drone will enter service next month, and it costs $1,100 – although this four-blade mini-helicopter known as the Yuneec Q500 Plus was not purchased, but donated by a fire department member in December. We do wonder whether this drone needs to be registered with the FAA though.
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