Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for over 360,000 deaths annually . In the United States, nearly 58 million people visit the beaches each year and approximately 80,000 are rescued .
Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), commonly referred to as drones, are increasingly being used to support the first responder mission. As public safety agencies progress forward to implement sUAS programs, coastal water rescue applications should be considered. In 2018, the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department developed and tested a drone-enabled rescue application for struggling swimmers near the ocean shore. The intent was to test rescue equipment and create a standardize technique to perform drone assisted water rescues with UAVs.
Since the first test in early 2018, the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department has been leading the integration of the public and private sectors for research and development in water rescues. The focus of this presentation will be to review available equipment (including thermal imaging), software, and best practices when considering the utilization of drones for coastal water rescue. In addition, current and future research will be discussed to help attendees understand areas that have been proven to provide benefit in coastal water rescues.