Midlands Air Ambulance Charity gives warning about drones

The UK’s Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is sending an important reminder to those who receive drones as Christmas presents this festive season.

The pre-hospital emergency service is warning drone pilots to be extremely careful when using them and not to fly them near aircraft, including the charity’s three air ambulance helicopters.

As the commercial drone market grows in popularity with an expanding range of gadgets available, and more than 180,000 registered drone pilots in the UK, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is reminding people of three simple rules:

Do not fly drones near other aircraft

There have been several reported incidents in recent years where drones have been flown in the direct flightpath of a helicopter that has been on its way to an emergency. If a responding helicopter’s crew knows there is a drone above the scene, they will deconflict and land at an alternative site to prevent a collision, which delays the clinical team getting to the patient.

Drones can also cause distractions, putting the pilot’s and clinical team’s health and safety at higher risk as they are small and very hard to see.

Do not fly drones over air ambulance airbases

The charity’s clinicians and pilots need to be able to take flight straight away when emergency calls are received; if drones are flying around, or there is other aviation activity in the sky, this delays their takeoff time, which could be the difference between life and death in some circumstances.

Two of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s airbases are within the Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) surrounding airfields and it is unlawful to fly a drone within these zones without prior permission from the airfield.

Do not fly drones to film incidents

It’s now commonplace to see people filming emergency services personnel while they are responding to incidents. In some rarer cases, members of the public even fly drones near to an incident to film more of what is happening.

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity strongly advises that people are considerate of patients’ privacy and dignity if they come across an incident scene. Not only that, but drones can also cause distractions to medics performing lifesaving interventions, putting patients’ outcomes at adverse risk.

Ian Jones, Clinical Operations Director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “We are keen for people to enjoy their drones, as they can be great fun, but we also want to raise awareness of some of the dangers to our organization and others. A patient requiring the advanced clinical skills that we provide will most likely be experiencing the worst day of their lives. Flying a drone that could disrupt our ability to rapidly reach or treat those in critical need can have an adverse effect on their situation.

“As a lifesaving charity, we understand that many will take an interest in our pre-hospital emergency service, but we please ask that those using drones consider our mission first before flying their drone close to an incident.”