Subject: SAR Technology

Beginning in late 2017, SCVSAR started to assemble a new team to enable the use of drones, which are more formally known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s), as a new tool to help with searches and other missions supported by SCVSAR. The new team has been structured to follow policies that have been put in place by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office on the use of UAV’s, and SCVSAR received an official go ahead to begin utilizing UAV’s on missions in March of this year. Part of the policy that was put in place requires that the individuals who will be piloting the UAV’s be compliant with FAA regulations, which require that they pass an FAA-mandated test in addition to passing both a written and a flight test within SCVSAR. To date, SCVSAR has approved seven individuals through the pilot approval process and these are known as Remote Pilots in Command or RPIC’s. SCVSAR has deployed UAV’s on over nine missions so far this year, and on each of these missions the UAV’s are showing significant value by enabling the search of areas too difficult or too hazardous for members of our ground teams to search. In addition, we are […]