Opportunities Related to the Use of Unmanned Systems in Emergency Services
Aim: The purpose of this article is to present the possibilities and solutions of using unmanned vehicles (UV) in uniformed services. The authors presented various solutions used across the world, discussing their potential use depending on their operating environment. Nowadays, designing unmanned vehicles, both amateur and professional, is becoming increasingly popular. They are used mainly in amateur media applications, for video shooting and photography. Despite the widespread use of unmanned vehicles, they are rarely employed by uniformed services. This article presents various possibilities of using unmanned vehicles, for example: • observation of the area, • counting and detecting people and animals, • environmental quality testing, • transport of small loads, • protection of the health and life of rescuers, • Monitoring of construction elements, • detection of threats related to e.g. predators, pointing to the potential advantages of various solutions, such as reducing costs, improving the safety of rescuers or reducing the time to intervention. In addition, the types of sensors used in unmanned vehicles and their suitability for various services were identified. Globally, there is a great diversity of designs of unmanned vehicles with potential applications in protecting human health and property. Currently in Poland, the adoption of unmanned vehicles in the uniformed services is rather limited (with the exception of the Armed Forces and the Border Guard). This situa - tion may result from staff shortages, inadequate vehicle autonomy, equipment shortages or the unavailability of appropriate operator training. It should be expected, however, in the era of sensor and component miniaturisation, that the possibilities offered by unmanned vehicles will be increasing, and various designs will find more and more applications in various services. Most likely, the first to be introduced will be unmanned aerial vehicles, because they are already the most widespread. Largely automated, they can be used to obtain a very accurate view of the situation and provide other functions, such as monitoring chemical threats sprayed into the air. Undoubtedly, the added value leading to the increasingly common use of unmanned vehicles is their ability to react more quickly than human rescuers (e.g. by providing a lifebuoy or a raft to a drowning person). Such use of unmanned vehicles would certainly boost the chances of survival of the person being rescued while helping the rescuer to provide effective assistance.