Digital deployment design

Drones as Modern Search Dogs

An accident – ​​limited information – contact lost. What can help emergency responders pinpoint the exact location and how can they best search for the injured? Recently, I've become increasingly aware of new rescue methods, including a special operation by the Krems Volunteer Fire Department. After an accident, contact with the injured person was lost. The injured person only knew their approximate location, which was in the vineyards. Adding to the difficulty, their car was in a precarious position, as it was parked on a slope and at risk of sliding downhill. In addition to the standard location tracking methods used by mobile network providers, the fire department deployed a drone to locate the accident site as quickly as possible. They succeeded in finding the injured person and providing them with the necessary medical care.

Besides this, drones could also be used to locate missing persons, whether injured or missing for any other reason. This would be a simple and rapid method to begin the search. Initially, this would naturally only be conceivable as a supplementary tool, but it could potentially replace other methods in the future. The ever-improving technology offers many possibilities that could be wonderfully tested and utilized in this social sector.

Additional tools can also be used in other areas, such as intelligent systems for bed allocation in hospitals. However, these are highly complex systems that are often not yet fully mature. Nevertheless, we are well on our way to digitalization, even in critical infrastructure sectors.