Los Angeles, CA—DJI launched an online reference to track events around the world where a drone helped rescue someone from peril. The Drone Rescue Map shows how more than 400 people around the world were helped by drones in more than 200 emergencies. DJI is a provider of civilian drone and aerial imaging technology.
“The DJI Drone Rescue Map is now the best global reference for how effective drones are in emergencies; it allows the world to see the tremendous impact drones have had in finding lost people; shortening searches; reducing risks to rescuers; and saving lives,” said Romeo Durscher, DJI’s senior director of Public Safety Integration. “Public safety workers already know how drones are revolutionizing their work; now the rest of the world also can see their amazing stories in one place.”
DJI Drone Rescue Map
The DJI Drone Rescue Map was compiled from news stories as well as social media posts from authoritative sources. These include police departments, fire departments as well as volunteer rescue squads. To make the map as definitive as possible, DJI encourages public safety agencies to share additional drone rescues. 
Moreover, each entry on the map shows the location and date of the incident; a brief description; a link to the original story or post; as well as a way to share those incidents online.
In addition, the map includes instances of drones finding people lost in forests, fields and mountains, often in darkness using thermal imaging cameras; dropping life preservers to people struggling in water; locating boaters stranded on remote waterways; and also helping rescue people at risk of harming themselves. However, it does not include incidents when a drone was simply used as part of a larger search process. Instead, a drone must have directly located, assisted and/or rescued a person in peril.
Many of these incidents illustrate how drones can find missing people more quickly than a traditional ground-based search, and with less risk and burden for rescuers. In some of the incidents on the DJI Drone Rescue Map, the drone helped accelerate a rescue and allow first responders to operate more efficiently. In other incidents, the drone clearly made the difference between life and death.
Global Scope
What’s more, the map includes rescues recorded in 27 countries across five continents. It shows how drone technology has moved from an experimental concept to standard public safety equipment. The first drone rescue was recorded in Canada in 2013; the next one was more than a year later.
Furthermore, early examples of drone rescues were as likely to be performed by helpful bystanders as by professionals. Today, people report drone rescues about once a week on average. What’s more, public safety agencies routinely share those success stories on social media.
“Hundreds of examples now make clear that making drones widely accessible, with low barriers to entry and subject to a progressive set of operational regulations, leads inevitably to saving more lives around the world,” said Brendan Schulman, DJI’s vice president of Policy & Legal Affairs.
“The DJI Drone Rescue Map is a powerful resource for policymakers to understand the impact drones have on protecting vulnerable people in their own communities; and the detrimental consequences of policies that would restrict or discourage the use of drones or increase the cost of using them. Regions with less favorable operating rules for drones appear to have substantially fewer reports of drone rescues.”
Anyone who knows of a drone-involved rescue not included on the DJI Drone Rescue Map can submit it through a form at the bottom of the map page. DJI will review these submissions for publication on the map.
