Unmanned ariel vehicles, more commonly known as drones, often get a bad press, mainly for buzzing airports and grounding commercial airliners. All too easily forgotten is the key role they can play in saving lives, as per the incident which played out recently in Jiangsu.
It was on 1 July that a man became trapped on the beach in the popular northern Jiangsu seaside destination that is Lianyungang.
The city’s primary draw that is its expansive beaches also means the tide comes in fast. And in doing so, the waters deposit a large amount of silt. With the sea level rising around him, one unfortunate man became stuck in the sand.
Such conditions were also going to make any rescue attempt difficult.
First responders therefore wisely resorted to using a drone to pinpoint the man’s position, reports The Paper. Switching the drone’s camera to its thermal imaging mode, rescuers were able to locate the man’s body-heat signature within just 1 minute of flying out to sea.
That camera could also measure the man’s body temperature, bringing on concerns that despite the hot weather, he was becoming chilled by the rising waters.
Bringing in an inflatable dinghy assault boat for the purpose, authorities assigned several firefighters to drive the boat out to the man, assisted all the while by the drone’s continuous feed of GPS information.
Within a few minutes, they had managed to extract the man from the silt, and with his vital signs all stable, the drone had helped affect a perfect rescue.
Lianyungang is located in Jiangsu’s far northeast. There, its private beaches offer an attractive alternative to those crowded, sandy draws in Qingdao. Read all about them, together with the fascinating history of this city, in “Jiangsu Escapes”, this Sunday, 17 July, only in The Nanjinger.
