How effective are drones?

Michael Traylor reviews the evidence for the use of unmanned aerial systems to enhance the outcome of emergency response operations.

The FDNY used UAS during a recent terrorist control exercise. © SMG/Sundance

Unmanned aerial systems are proving to be a necessary response tool for public safety organisations. Their use can greatly enhance the capabilities of such organisations by providing airborne support in a cost-effective way, improving response times, organisation, and command and control as well as the safety of those on the ground.

UAS can significantly reduce response times for critical incidents such as hazardous materials spills, search and rescue missions, structure and brush fires, and suspect apprehension searches. They fulfill new roles in crime scene documentation, mapping crime scenes, and critical incident scenes in a manner that was unheard of before, as well as bolstering traditional command and control-related intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance for incident commanders.

The primary advantage many agencies find with using unmanned aerial systems is that the operating costs are significantly cheaper than their manned counterparts. An unmanned system can operate at a cost of around $25 per hour versus a manned aircraft at $650 an hour (Benefits and Risks of UAS, 2017). A UAS also does not bring with it any significant fees associated with hangar space or routine inspections. The cost of acquisition is also significantly cheaper.

The size of an agency and its budget will have a direct impact on its ability to field an aviation programme. Smaller agencies with fewer than 100 employees will not have the revenue to fund a manned capability and must turn instead to an unmanned system.

The missions these systems can carry out for public safety are wide-ranging. Current public safety missions include response and assessment of hazardous materials spills and incidents, search and rescue missions, crime scene documentation and mapping, explosive ordinance disposal, barricaded suspect surveillance, active shooter response, disaster response and recovery, training support, damage assessments, forensic photography, and crime scene mapping.

With the addition of specialised sensors, these aircraft can be excellent airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms for incident commanders. The use of UAS to improve situational awareness on large fires, whether structural or wildland, can assist commanders in achieving the best possible deployment of assets in their response by determining hot spots and flare-up locations on fire scenes.

Significant research has been carried out on the use of UAS in emergency situations. Because of their unique capabilities, UAS can enter an area significantly faster than ground personnel. This is particularly the case for incidents such as radiological responses, where ground personnel would have to put on their personal protective equipment prior to responding to conduct the initial assessment of the scene (Duncan, 2014). An experiment was conducted that showed a small UAS could conduct the initial assessment of a radiological event and start providing useful data within 16 minutes. The data was sent to incident command within 50 minutes, ten minutes before the ground team were able to completely don their personal protective equipment (Duncan, 2014).

The aircraft was significantly faster in providing the initial assessment of the scene and assisting in locating the source of the radiation than the ground crew. It didn’t eliminaute the need for ground crews to enter the hot zone, but thanks to the initial assessment carried out by the UAS, exposure times can be greatly reduced (Duncan, 2014).

Unmanned aerial systems are a growing segment of rescue robotics that can operate in three operational environments, which is a critical consideration when selecting the correct UAS. These three deployment environments are wide-area,

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UAS response

local-area, and interior environments (Murphy & Arkin, 2014).

Wide-area operational environments may include searching a large wooded area for a missing person or suspect, or for a damage assessment. This UAS deployment can result in an extended flight time and range, easily involving several miles at low altitude (Murphy & Arkin, 2014) and therefore the capability to operate beyond the line of sight is highly desirable.

Local-area operational environments represent specific events confined to one location, such as structure fires, hazardous materials spills, barricaded suspects, or a major sporting event for which it is necessary to provide continual steady coverage (Murphy & Arkin, 2014).

Finally, the interior environment involves operation of the UAS in the interior of a structure. Launching UAS into confined spaces presents several challenges, for example connectivity and obstacle avoidance, however, in certain circumstances, such as large-scale rescue operations for earthquakes or active shooter events, rapid assessment within a structure is necessary (Murphy & Arkin, 2014).

Each agency will have to determine the public safety uses for UAS within its organisation. They can then determine the type of UAS platform to employ. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses, and choosing the right one means comparing its capabilities to the required mission profile.

Agencies need to examine all elements of a UAS system to ensure it will function in the manner they require. For example, it must be able to meet requirements for flight time and payload. In addition to the typical quad or hexacopter VTOL designs, agencies may consider a hybrid VTOL system or a fixed-wing option to obtain extended flight times and heavier payload capacity. The air vehicle may also need to be decontaminated, which means a customised aircraft with specific safeguards to protect it during the decon process.

Additionally, if the air vehicle element is going to be operating in hazardous environments, the demands of these environments should be carefully considered. For example, vapours or flammable gases may be present in Class 1, Division 1 environments in sufficient quantities to produce explosive or ignitable mixtures (Title 29 CFR 1926.449, 2018). Therefore the air vehicle component of the UAS needs to be intrinsically safe and compliant with NFPA 30: Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code, which provides the electrical systems standards for safe operations in this type of environment.

Figures show that unmanned aerial systems have been used successfully to save the lives of people and animals in at least 60 incidents, as well as in more than 100 successful public safety missions, since the FAA's Part 107 rule change in the United States in 2016. These missions include structural firefighting, hazardous materials incidents, wildfire firefighting, search and rescue, critical infrastructure inspections, damage assessments, shore patrols for sharks, SWAT operations, technical rescues, fugitive apprehensions, flooding, hurricanes, bomb threat responses, traffic crash investigations, crime scene investigations and establishing temporary communications (Charles, 2018).

Michael Traylor is the training coordinator at the Criminal Justice Training Center at Northwest Florida State College located in Niceville, Florida. With 20 years of law enforcement and investigative experience behind him, Traylor has worked with both large and small law enforcement agencies. During his career, he has served as an instructor, criminal investigator, and crime scene investigator as well as a supervisor and incident commander. Michael has a Bachelors of Science degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Aeronautics and Unmanned Aerial Systems and is currently a graduate student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the Masters of Science in Aeronautics Programme specialising in Unmanned Aerospace Systems. For more information, please contact him on traylom1@my.erau.edu.

UAS have now become an integral part of response operations, as illustrated by their use during this FDNY terrorism response exercise. © SMG/Sundance Media Group

UAS were critical in the damage assessment and recovery efforts in both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. They allowed emergency services to gain current intelligence on damage assessments, searching for persons in distress, and determining safe evacuation routes, saving responders time and manpower (Charles, 2018).

In conclusion, unmanned aerial systems can fulfill a critical need in public safety by providing real-time intelligence and capabilities to incident commanders, first responders, and the public. These systems have been proven to greatly reduce the time needed to respond to complex emergencies, completing the initial assessments much faster than a ground team could even don their personal protective equipment and enter the scene. They have been instrumental in saving lives, protecting first responders, and providing real-time damage assessments for disaster recovery. These systems are cost-effective and user-friendly and have proven themselves to be a necessity for any public safety organisation for emergency response and aviation support.

References

Benefits and Risks of UAS. (2017, July 2). Retrieved from NCJRS.gov: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/250283.pdf Charles, W. (2018, July 12). Drones Soar Following Hurricanes. Retrieved from libproxy.db.erau.edu: https://search-proquest-com. ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau. edu/docview/1966004539?pq-origsite=summon – Duncan, B. A. (2014). Autonomous Capabilities for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Conducting Radiological Response: Findings from a High-fidelity Discovery Experiment. Journal of Field Robotics, 522-536. – Gettinger, D. (2018, July 7). Public Safety Drones:An Update. Retrieved from Bard.edu: https:// dronecenter.bard.edu/files/2018/05/CSD-Public-Safety-Drones-Update-1.pdf – Murphy, R. R., & Arkin, R. C. (2014). Disaster Robotics. Cambridge, MA : MIT Press .(2015). NFPA 30. Quincy, MA : NFPA. – Title 29 CFR 1926.449. (2018, July 7). Retrieved from GPO.gov: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title29-vol8/pdf/CFR-2011-title29-vol8-sec1926-449.pdf..

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