Good Evening Robert, I am sure this will prove to be a very rewarding topic. I am fascinated by the use of drones in emergency management and implications for future use. We are also seeing that drones can be used illicitly as reported via open-source media coverage of the middle eastern conflict. In the United States, it seems that certain agencies have been quicker to adopt the technology than others.

6

Good Evening Robert,

I am sure this will prove to be a very rewarding topic. I am fascinated by the use of drones in emergency management and implications for future use. We are also seeing that drones can be used illicitly as reported via open-source media coverage of the middle eastern conflict. In the United States, it seems that certain agencies have been quicker to adopt the technology than others.

Your approach to evaluating how drones can help with first responder surveillance will be very helpful for the emergency management field. The Coast Guard is evaluating how drones could augment aviation support that would typically be used during disaster response. For example, during a large oil spill event impacting a major coast line, a drone might be a more efficient way to capture real-time trajectory reports and monitor environmental impacts. I think that hurricane response is another great example. Drone surveillance would assist in damage assessment reports, such as port and ship assessments necessary to reconstitute major waterways.

There are also complexities associated with working through: operator usage requirements, FAA approval and other federal and legal regulatory requirements. Most importantly, I believe that privacy will be a large factor in allowing wide-spread drone usage. How does the average citizen respond to seeing a drone flying above as they are walking down a street? Or they look out their window and happen to see it flying by?

You discussed analyzing the pros and cons of drone usage. One con that comes to mind is the risk of complacency. If emergency managers start to rely too heavily on drones to provide situational awareness, they might lose the value that comes from human judgment. I don’t think that machines can ever replace the onscene expertise and practical field experience that a human brings towards evaluating disaster mitigation requirements.

Good luck as you continue to analyze and move forward with this topic.

Sincerely, Michelle