Skydio Drones Instrumental For First Responders’ Hurricane Ian Relief Efforts

When disaster struck in Florida last month, Skydio was ready to pull from the company’s experience gained from years of working closely with public safety agencies.

Extensive Tech and Personnel Support

Starting September 29th, Skydio offered extended customer support care including an emergency phone line with 24/7 access, free advanced replacement, free access to Skydio academy, free access to Skydio Cloud, and more services.

Skydio employees also went above and beyond to aid local communities on the ground. Bryan King - Solutions Engineer, Public Safety and Chris Mauser - State/Local Account Executive for Florida, conducted training on donated drones and flew missions for public safety agencies. Among the agencies they assisted is Florida Highway Patrol, where they provided support with training of new pilots.

First Responder’s Reaction

AUVSI connected with Sgt. Robert Dooley of Florida Highway Patrol to learn more about how Skydio drones are making a difference in disaster response.

Sgt Dooley described the value-add of drones in disaster response: “Drones are invaluable in the first couple of days of a hurricane, assessing flooding, debris, and damage. They give you a whole different perspective on how to get places and get resources…They really enable law enforcement to do things they couldn’t do before.”

He reflected on what makes the Hurricane Ian drone response unique: “Hurricane Ian is the largest drone response I’ve seen in my career. Many agencies are coming in with these tools – you look up in the sky and everywhere, drones are doing something important. Instead of days and weeks, we’re getting information to decision-makers in minutes or hours.”

Some of the top benefits Dooley’s seen from the use of drones, including Skydio’s:

Autonomy enables responders to accomplish missions under high stress environments, even without extensive drone piloting experience.
Capabilities in mapping, search and rescue, and live video feeds are absolutely critical to first responders so that they know where to intervene and what resources to deploy.

Dooley praised Skydio’s “phenomenal AI” for obstacle avoidance and unique modeling and mapping features. With real-time mapping, first responders assessed real measurements of road damage and calculated volume missing and anticipated response time. “We’re providing a different level of public safety than we’ve done in the past,” he said.

He also shared an example from the Hurricane Ian response where the use of Skydio drones helped recover resources. A trooper fell into a body of water while responding to a 911 call, not realizing a road had collapsed. Fellow troopers rescued him and later were able to find his swept away vehicle using a Skydio drone’s live video feed, even without cell phone coverage.

The Future of Emergency Response

Sgt. Dooley described drones as cost effective and a force-multiplier that work in tandem with existing systems. In the new era of disaster response, traditional crewed aviation with large camera payloads are able to maintain a high overview video feed perspective that can direct drone operators to where they should focus in on specific areas that need a closer look. He explained that FHP also uses drones and helicopters in tandem in this way outside of hurricane response for manhunts and locating missing persons.

Civilian Privacy Protected

Sgt Dooley emphasized that overall, the public’s response to use of drones is overwhelmingly positive, especially for disaster response.

Florida’s first responders are trained on protecting civilians’ rights to privacy – but where misconceptions persist, Dooley says, “It all boils down to patience and education.” FHP conducts outreach to civilians and hosts workshops to educate the public about what drone capabilities are, how they will be used, and how police will not use them.

Skydio’s Trustworthy Drones for Public Safety

Skydio hardware and software are designed, assembled, and supported in the U.S. The Skydio X2 and Skydio Enterprise Controller are FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Compliant and American Security Drone Act (ASDA) compliant. Skydio drones are trusted and approved by the U.S. Department of Defense, and Skydio is the tool of choice of the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.K. MOD, and more.