Specialized Skills And Training Are Required For Positive Results, Says AIRT Executive Director

A hurricane Florence continues its path towards the Carolinas, with landfall expected later this week, the Executive Director of the Airborne International Response Team (AIRT) says well-intentioned drone pilots should take a step back and assess whether they are actually prepared to make a positive impact.

Writing in SUAS news, AIRT Executive Director Christopher Todd says that most drone operators do not have the necessary skills or training to be effective. "UAS disaster operations are a learned skill that must be developed and exercised to become effective during a what is likely to become an extremely chaotic sequence of events," he writes.

Todd says that one of the first things AIRT teaches the drone pilots it trains is never self-deploy. He says that a trained operator waits for a deployment order. The size and impact of the storm will dictate the scope of the response effort that is needed.

Todd says that the State of North Carolina has established a disaster response database that provides local emergency managers and first responders a list of qualified drone pilots who have volunteered to serve their communities. Florida and other states are developing similar databases, he said.

Preparation is a vital key to ultimate success, he says. Drone pilots who wish to provided these vital services should join an organization that will train them in how to properly respond to a disaster and make a positive difference.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report