First Rescue by Drone

Fast and done only with a drone.

So, is there a drone that carries a brandy flask, replacing the iconic St. Bernard? Ahh, progress.

Seriously, a very worthwhile development.

A promising development!

This is the drone that was used: https://vimeo.com/190027930

Super fast and quick with Drone

Very cool!

Agree, most impressive, and I expect to see more of this sort of rescue.
It must be remembered that in this case, that the two swimmers were conscious and able to save them selves with the aid of a float dropped by the drone.

We are some way away from a drone being able to save the unconscious or injured victim.

Here in the UK, tests have been carried out using drones not directly to rescue, but to locate persons in trouble in the water. The lifeboat may then proceed directly to the casualty rather than having to search for them.

I also expect to see more use of drones for accidents on land, both to locate victims and to drop supplies.
If a hiker or walker is lost or injured and suffering from dehydration, a litre of water dropped by drone could preserve life whilst rescue is arranged.
Likewise in cold conditions, a blanket and a couple of chemical hand warmers could preserve life.

Great point! I don't know enough about drone tech to know how handy they are for SAR type activities but probably they're promising. The military drones have pretty advanced sensor suites (or at least that's my guess) and can likely use FLIR, etc to find people. Depending on the range I imagine drones could help a lot, especially as the technology gets cheaper. And as you say, just dropping water, food, blankets, etc could save a life.

This link is a news report about use of drones to save life at sea.
BBC news

In this case the drone does not drop supplies, it is to guide the lifeboat quickly to the persons in trouble, without time taken up in searching.

(Most lifeboats in the UK are operated by the RNLI, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a large charity devoted to saving life at sea. The lifeboat featured in this report is operated and crewed by an independent charity.)

http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2017/04/grand_canyon_drone_search.html

This is an account of use of drones last year at Grand Canyon - another excellent application of this technology.