[et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label=”Fullwidth Header” title=”Search and rescue in Nepal” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”center” header_fullscreen=”off” header_scroll_down=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” content_orientation=”center” image_orientation=”center” custom_button_one=”off” button_one_letter_spacing=”0″ button_one_use_icon=”default” button_one_icon_placement=”right” button_one_on_hover=”on” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ custom_button_two=”off” button_two_letter_spacing=”0″ button_two_use_icon=”default” button_two_icon_placement=”right” button_two_on_hover=”on” button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ subhead=”Canadian relief agency Global Medic is using UAVs to coordinate its search and rescue efforts overseas. Photo \u00a9 Creative Commons.” header_image_url=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drones\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Drone-in-Nepal-medium.jpg”] [\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Global Medic founder Rahul Singh admits that his passion and expertise lie in providing relief and medical support for people affected by disaster. However, during a relief mission to Port-Au-Prince, Singh realized that his organization would have to modernize its logistics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the doers,\u201d says Singh. \u201cWe deliver the aid and we\u2019re going to do whatever it takes to make the process easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the time since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Global Medic has been using UAVs to support their efforts in delivering aid and support to countries that have been struck by natural disasters. In 2015, Global Medic responded to the devastating earthquake Nepal using quadcopter helicopters to coordinate their disaster response more\u00a0efficiently.<\/p>\n
While the agency has been providing relief for many years, the move towards using UAV technology came only after the logistical issues surfaced in Haiti. Global Medic’s relief workers were driving in a massive, slow moving convoy, and needed clearer roads to get to the places they were needed. However, Port-Au-Prince was a chaotic mess\u00a0of broken roads, crumbling buildings and rioting mobs after the earthquake. Global Medic couldn\u2019t move through the crowds of people quickly enough to be effective, and finding alternate routes in the field cost them precious time.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine 20 large vehicles trying to all turn around and work their way through a thick crowd of people all at once,\u201d says Singh.<\/p>\n
On top of the damaged infrastructure, aftershocks from the quake caused already fragile buildings to crumble while relief workers were in the field. With their logistical situation changing on a moment by moment basis, it was extremely difficult for Global Medic to plan and allocate resources effectively for their operations. Following their mission to Haiti, Singh and his staff felt that having better awareness of their environment would have increased the effectiveness of their response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt that it would have been better in that situation to have some sort of imagery of what was going on around us because at that time we were basically operating in cones or vacuums,\u201d says Singh<\/p>\n
When major disasters occur underdeveloped countries, relief agencies like Global Medic can\u2019t be optimally effective because of the damaged infrastructure and communications networks. They don\u2019t always know who needs help where, which roads have been destroyed or where people have been displaced as a result of the disaster. The Global Medic team had emergency facilities ready to administer aid and they had sources of safe water available for the people who needed it, but they didn\u2019t have a full understanding of their surroundings on a moment-by-moment basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I call 911 and say, \u2018I need help\u2019 and then hang up, 911 is stuck. They aren\u2019t going to know who you are or what kind of help you need,\u201d says Singh.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you call and say, \u2018Help, I broke my leg\u2019 they know exactly what kinds of resources to send. You\u2019ve triaged the call and know exactly what to send to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singh and his team realized that better analysis on the ground would improve their ability to administer aid in disaster scenarios. After they finished their mission in Haiti, they went through an evaluation process to figure out which\u00a0tools they could use to be more effective in their efforts. They felt that if they had a bird’s-eye view coming into the city of which roads were out in front of us then they’d be able to steer that convoy through. This would be a perfect solution to a lot of the issues this team was having in terms of being able to allocate their resources effectively in these scenarios.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be perfect to have a UAV that could go out ahead of us, and do those sorts of things.\u2019 we thought this application would work in all the other areas where we work,\u201d says Singh.<\/p>\n