The first training course for Security and Emergency Response Training Center’s “Managing Unmanned Aerial Systems in Emergency Response” (MUASER) program was a huge success! ). Attendees included Vail Mountain Rescue Group, Pueblo SWAT, Alamosa County Emergency Management, and Birmingham just to name a few. A police and fire department also attended! Our Hx8 drone was used to deliver a sensor package called an AreaRAE. It monitors 6 gases, gamma radiation, and the atmospheric conditions and sends wireless telemetry back to a laptop. The operator can link the AreaRAE up to 8 smaller gas monitors deployed around a site to get a complete picture of how the gasses are behaving. They did a 33 car train derailment as the final exercise of the day with a leaking chlorine, propane, liquid fuels, ammonia, and other hazardous materials and made the students work out the remediation of the hazardous materials using the drones. The Colorado Department of Public Safety was there to review the course for the state. Drone companies Aeryon, Leptron, Yuneec, and Skyfire came out to help as well.

See a video of SERTC flight testing the Harris Aerial Hx8 and deploying the AreaRAE sensor:

For more information on SERTC’s Managing Unmanned Aerial Systems in Emergency Response (MUASER) program, please visit their webpage: http://sertc.org/courses/managing-unmanned-aerial-systems-in-emergency-response-for-surface-transportation-incidents-muaser-basic/