Every year, volunteers from Norwegian People’s Aid contribute to around 50 search operations for missing or injured people, several of them using drones. Often only minutes make the difference between life and death, and the rapid dispatch of search personnel can be decisive. Now a new drone project will make it possible to find missing people faster than before. Fully packed and ready for dispatch A converted car, equipped with a drone, large battery bank, PC with map and large screen is now ready for dispatch. In addition, the car has an airtight cabinet for transporting aggregates and petrol. Drone pilot Roger Bjerknes in Norwegian People’s Aid. Photo: Anders Haualand / news – Things go much faster. We are quicker on the ball. Everything is already packed in the car, so we save a lot of time. Maybe 20 minutes. We hope that we can help save lives in the best case scenario, says drone pilot Roger Bjerknes in Norwegian People’s Aid. – Unfortunately, we have many cases where it can be decisive. The margins are so small. I am absolutely sure that 20 minutes helps to save lives, he adds. – A hobby of death and life Bjerknes has participated in a number of search operations with drones. Modern technology is not always enough. – It’s a life-and-death hobby. We just have to deal with it. We will always be ahead of the game and make improvements to everything we do, to be as fast as possible for whoever is on the other end. Whether it is someone who is injured or missing, says Bjerknes. The car is fully packed and ready, thus saving the crews many minutes in the event of an emergency. Photo: Anders Haualand / news Together with colleague Jørgen Sætre, they travel out when people are missing. Drone pilot Jørgen Sætre in Norwegian People’s Aid. Photo: Anders Haualand / news – We have it as a hobby, because we see the value of being able to assist those who need help. And then there is a big gain when we make discoveries and can contribute to someone returning safely, says drone pilot Sætre. Equipped with searchlight The drone is equipped with both a thermal camera and a searchlight. – The spotlight follows the camera. If we have a discovery, we can switch on that light and guide other crews into the discovery site, or give them light from above. So it’s a great tool, says Bjerknes. In addition, the car has solar panels on the roof for charging the battery bank. The drone car for Norwegian People’s Aid is ready to be called out. Photo: Anders Haualand / news Norwegian People’s Aid has received financial support from Sparebank 1 Søreast-Norge to develop and implement the project. The South East Police District is among those with the largest number of search and rescue operations in the country, and there has been an increase in the number of operations and requests for drones. The police are also equipped with their own drones. 50 missing persons were found with the help of police drones last year. All the police districts have now received a drone car, and the police flew a drone for a total of 3,000 hours last year. – Have been doing this for so many years. It is in the backbone that you contribute where you can to be able to help people who are in need or need help, says Sætre. Published 30.09.2024, at 05.10
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New drone project at Norwegian People’s Aid will save lives – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
