# SOS: Sending Out Smiles with Automated Drones in First Response

- Event: Xpress ’23
- Published: October 5, 2023
- Length: 11:15
- Watch: https://nestgen.org/library/watch/WCHKxdqmWVU/

> The transcript of a recorded NestGen session, for reading or for use with an AI tool. It comes from the video's
> captions; automatic captions can mishear names and terms.

## About this session

Ever wondered how automated drones are transforming the world of emergency response? Dive into our latest episode of #NestGenXpress where we discuss the power of automated drones in public safety. From tracking down suspects to aiding in accident reconstructions, drones are proving to be an invaluable tool for first responders.

Join Jason San Souci, as he chats with Cody Thomas, VP of Business Development, about the transformative impact of drones in the realm of public safety.

## Transcript

**[0:04]** all right and we are back with the NestGen Express this is episode three uh we are sending we are SOS so we're talking about sending out Smiles with automated drones okay maybe we're talking about first response but SOS also applies to Smiles obviously my name is Jason San Souci and I'm the host of the do you know drones podcast and I am delighted to be here today with the VP of Business Development Cody Thomas of Adventure and we're gonna be talking about a lot of different funds today but you know I'm going to start just walking to the show thanks thanks for having me it's great to see you it's been a while it has been a while it's really good to have you here man yeah I appreciate the invite and pretty excited to have a little combo with you about Public Safety this is gonna be fun okay it's gonna be fun this is gonna be a lot of fun let's have a little combo let's start with like a very serious question all right super serious question so do you know in your knowledge in the public safety realm for drones for First Responders has a drone ever tried to deliver emotional support maybe like in the form of like

**[1:08]** an uplifting GIF GIF GIF gif something like that that's a good question I can't say I've ever seen that I've seen drones with little googly eyeballs people put oh yeah you know mascara away Birds yeah yeah scare away the bird oh my God as far as a gift or a gif that's a good question I have not seen that we we may we may need to talk to the uh the dragonfly the promo drone guys like the ones with the the Starling X2 with the big screen that would be their game you might be onto some that would be their game that would be amazing okay so let's let's get let's get room okay so how currently today like we know that that automated drones and so apparently in some countries AKA Canada they don't even like to use the word automation they like let their non-marketing people figure out a better word which is terrible terrible idea don't let marketing people figure out new words um but yeah so automation is not a bad word but so how are automated drones being used it just educate us a little bit on how they're being

**[2:11]** used in emergency response scenarios yeah sure thing well I mean talk about a rabbit hole doll boy it's a public safety agencies across well really the world but let's focus on North America I've been adopting these Technologies left and right you know from all sorts of Manufacturers you know there's so many different use cases for these of Public Safety if we're talking about multi-rotors that's obviously the most common uas system that we're all pretty familiar with right you know so absolutely throwing up uh whether it's a DJI an ontel a sky deal whatever you know these drones are able to fly maybe in the rain and search for somebody that's missing out there in the forest you know if they got a good thermal camera on there I think hey that gives us the availability the ability to fly day night and find areas you know so if something has a heat signature we can find it you know if there's a lost dog in a cornfield you know they can find that as well so there have been they'll also find lots of deer lots of deer so much deer there's lots of missing dogs that I've been seeing people use drones to

**[3:11]** pinpoint their their golden retriever out there in the fields but Public Safety agencies have been relying on these so heavily now they it were way past the years of this being sake oil this is a very proven valuable tool for everybody out there I'll agree I'll agree absolutely so but like what obviously anytime you're integrating new technology there's going to be challenges you have to take baby steps you have to make sure that the education's there the use case is there the training is there the technology is there and regulations are there everything all comes together but what are some of the challenges that the First Responders are facing when they're integrating drones into their operations yeah I mean education step one right you know it's we have to understand what the use case is number one and geography is a part of that if they're in Alaska maybe this is going to be a different setup than somebody in Florida you know for example but the the use cases out there and how they're adopted it needs to be addressed

**[4:12]** by education step one get these certifications need to get comfortable with these platforms they need to have somebody like like us for example that can support them and train them and how to operate these out there in these environments in these real world situations and you know there's a lot of focus on the hardware on the drones but the camera that payload that's the most most important part of an operation you know so if you have a good drone but a bad camera then what are you really doing out there so we need to pinpoint what are the best platforms for certain Public Safety agencies train them on that then on top of that they're software applications as well so accident reconstruction is a priority for a particular agency then now we're getting into more of the software topics as well sure no makes sense so and great answer no I I appreciate that I mean I love when anyone uses education over and over again it's huge it's just huge and because there's a challenge related to that as well so next question so so there's a lot of Legacy

**[5:13]** systems emergency response systems that are currently in place that are an operation that all types of operations this domain drones are kind of coming to the table are they currently so how are they sort of integrated and communicate with those systems today how do drones communicate with those real-time systems today can you give me an example of um so I mean I'm just trying to think like you have like the the incident response truck that rolls up right you've got that it's fully you know fully kitted with comms you know you've got Telemetry and control you've got like you know all sort of the real-time situational awareness tools that are already in action and that's just at the lowest level of the agency there's probably you know if you're talking to FEMA or the geospatial intelligence team NGA like they're bringing they're bringing Maps they're bringing these like so there's all these people that already certainly respond depending on the the level of the situation drones are a new tool how does that current tool integrate with some of those existing Technologies

**[6:13]** does that make sense is that better yeah okay no that okay that makes sense I appreciate that yeah you know um and once again technology is evolving all the time science what we're seeing now is um we're seeing a lot of inspiration pop up with so many public safety agencies they're coming up with interesting ways of incorporating new bits of Technology onto already existing platforms so here's a basic answer for you so the particular fire agency in California wants to have a tether drone Solution on their fire truck yep they want to fabricate a whole little box deal and put a tethered solution in there and then whenever they go out to respond to an incident they can throw up a drone and have it tether from the top of their fire truck yeah so I mean they're integrating Hardware onto already existing Hardware okay in a way but it's interesting how everybody's trying to mesh all these things together if you will you know um the software side of things when say I would Patrol or a sheriff or you know police department they arrived to an accident you know they typically the past you know there's photos involved you know

**[7:16]** that eventually you gotta get everything off the road if you will right so we can throw up a drone even at night with the right Lighting systems you can light everything up and you can map everything really quickly and have everything digitally archived and therefore evidence sure so instead of using the old Sony cameras which are still used as well on the ground now we can adopt an aerial application and even say a vidoc as well from pix4d that's handy you can take that you can do a little orbit around yeah something physical out there and map it out and then that's thrown into their system for evidence and and uh and the courts are uh and I've been a part of a few litigation processes and the courts are seeing drones as an incredibly valuable tool that may sound because it's it's a it's a New Perspective right right so if you're a jury or if you're a judge or the attorneys themselves it paints an entire picture and the camera can't see this but we're looking across the way at a TV and it's flying over power lines and it paints a picture of our way of understanding kind of the landscape around us if you will so

**[8:18]** it kind of opens up the mind a little bit more and for Public Safety agencies to use this in tandem with their already existing Hardware's softwares whatever it's just another tool in the toolbox you know so it's awesome awesome yeah no well well said and it's sort of the secondary use cases that like when you throw up new technology and you're able to do it in sort of a newer area the brainstorming that happens in real time is incredible like I think that's a really great advantage of how this technology is spawning its own Innovation within each of the own use cases vertical markets like everyone's like wow I never thought about that before it's like well if you have the tool you can build something new with it so that's really important for this industry as we move forward so let's let's dive let's double click into like one successful use case or a case study where like a drone really played a pivotal role in this ver in this market like can you share us the story like tell us a story Cody yeah so this actually just happened about oh not even a week ago oh man um a law

**[9:25]** enforcement agency in Northern California okay they had been tracking this suspect for a while he had a worn out and they were trying to pin him down and he kind of kept getting away or spotting a vehicle and would go to a new location it'd take the cops a few more days to try and find this guy and so they ended up tracking him down to the house okay he escaped out the back and ran through a field right and so this is that night the the police officers on on the foot they didn't know where he's at which direction he went but if they have a drowned so they threw up I believe is a mavic 3 thermal threw it up they sent it out over the field and they pinpointed them just like fast it's just like that so why then you know by one officer throwing it down drone up in the air and understanding where he's at in relation to the house it's on his radio says Hey the suspect is right out the back out in the field maybe 200 yards into the field so and so you guys are over here maybe go on the north side of the field come

**[10:27]** into this whatever but they were able to lock him in and they went right up to him that drone just hovered over his position the entire time and there's nowhere he could go oh man bad boys bad boys look too good in the dude what you gonna do don't hover over you okay yeah I know it's good SEC you never know what's gonna happen here on NestGen Express um Cody that's that's really kind of all the questions I had for you today but I really appreciate you joining us it's always a pleasure it's great always great catching up and I think this technology I mean I would just wish you guys the best of success and everything that's going on uh especially within this particular vertical Market you guys I know you're crushing it so just keep doing your thing man thanks for being on the show appreciate it thank you absolutely right now brother thanks man yeah absolutely that's what