During a week-long workshop for emergency services professionals that took place from January 21-25 in Bogota, Colombia, Airborne Incident Response Team (AIRT) and APD Humanitario officially unveiled DroneResponders Latin America, a Spanish language-based initiative to facilitate UAS for good.

Representatives from Colombia’s premier emergency services organizations were present during the official launch of DroneResponders in Colombia, including Civil Defense Colombia, Firefighters Colombia, and The Colombian Red Cross.

“The expansion of DroneResponders into Latin America is a clear indication of the increasing global demand for knowledge and education surrounding the use of drones for emergencies and critical incidents,” says Andy Jaques, director of International Affairs for AIRT.

“APD Humanitario is the perfect partner for us to expand the DroneResponders program across the southwestern hemisphere.”

A non-profit organization that promotes using UAS for humanitarian use cases such as emergencies and disaster response, APD Humanitario is spearheading the Latin America rendition of DroneResponders. AIRT and APD executed a memorandum of understanding in June 2019 to facilitate public safety and disaster response UAS training, as well as deployable resources for the region.

“APD Humanitario is proud to be working with AIRT to expand the DroneResponders program across Latin America,” says Pablo Heredia Cantillana, executive director of APD.

“While the region has many unique challenges and varying cultures, our network of APD partners will work together to educate and train emergency services professionals based on the core principals of DroneResponders.”

APD plans to introduce DroneResponders throughout Colombia before expanding the program across the continent, Heredia-Cantillana adds.

Launched in April 2019, the DroneResponders Public Safety Alliance has already expanded to more than 1,500 member-organizations reaching across more than 33 different countries. Jaques notes that AIRT is in contact with more prospective international partners who have expressed interest in joining the DroneResponders movement. Additionally, DroneResponders International Council has been created to serve as a conduit to facilitate global interest surrounding the program, Jaques adds.

“The diverse cultures representing each region of the world, combined with distinct civil aviation authorities and various emergency response structures, will require a nuanced approach to the expansion of DroneResponders,” Jaques explains.

“We are working closely with APD Humanitario to develop a model that can be expanded globally if required.”