I think large drones are not a viable option for civilian use. A quick search at the cost of a reaper is $16.9 million and then you need a lot of money for the operator-pilot, ground crew, maintenance, etc. That’s a lot of money for a drone, with very limited capability. The cost per saved life, makes this a poor choice.

Using military drones for civilian use can be tricky or at least takes forever to get everything arranged...

I think small inexpensive drones is viable, but they are very limited is bad weather and small payload. A manned helicopter or fixed wing is more flexible in usages in both weather and missions (and there for sometimes easier to find funding for).