Special needs search tech highlighted
Sheriff’s offices in New Jersey and Virginia have added the PLI Indago drone to their inventories.
Sheriff’s offices in New Jersey and Virginia have added the PLI Indago drone to their inventories, with additional first response agencies soon to join the ranks, Lockheed Martin has reported. The unmanned air system (UAS) has been developed by non-profit organisation Project Lifesaver International (PLI) and Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the quadrotor, to assist in searches for at-risk missing persons.
The PLI programme supports clients with autism, Down syndrome and dementia by pairing Indago drones with Project Lifesaver’s electronic location equipment, which is used by first responders to find special needs individuals who may wander. Upon receiving a distress call, operators can deploy the antenna-equipped drone to locate missing individuals.
Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano of Somerset County New Jersey, US, oversees the first sheriff’s office in the country to adopt the system. He explained: “The Indago UAS will allow us to increase our capabilities in locating a client who has wandered. This new asset will give us the ability to search even more efficiently over a broader area and will increase the probability of a successful recovery.” Somerset County has 40 clients enrolled in Project Lifesaver: 23 children who have autism or Down syndrome and 17 adults who have dementia.
Gene Saunders, founder and CEO of Project Lifesaver, added: “The Indago will give Project Lifesaver agency members the ability to have an airborne asset available quickly to enhance their search capability in bringing loved ones home.”
According to Lockheed Martin, the Indago reduces the response time and increases the efficiency of search efforts compare to relying on manned aircraft.
Project Lifesaver International said that to date, Project Lifesaver agencies have conducted over 3,254 successful rescues. Most who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes. Recovery times for its clients average 30 minutes, 95-per-cent less time than standard operations, said the organisation.