Lifesaving drones being tested on Chile beach

Sputnik News.com/Latin America, 3/16/15," "Chile testing lifeguard drones. A Chilean company is hoping drones will be able to save drowning swimmers faster than lifeguards."

Here comes Drone with the lifesaving float.
... Works for the 3rd world, might work here too.

"Green Solution is testing a drone on the beaches of Algarrobo, Chile that enables lifeguards to start the rescue process before getting in the water. The drone is equipped with a float, camera, microphone and speaker, and would be controlled by rescuers from the beach. Through the camera, rescuers will be able to locate the swimmer in trouble and drop them the float, located at the bottom of the drone, until a lifeguard gets to the scene.

The speaker and microphone allow lifeguards to give instructions to and receive information from swimmers before getting in the water. "If these are used on the beaches of Chile it's going to be a global novelty because there's no record of this being done before," said Pablo Fuentes, director of Green Solution. With hopes to saving lives, the company aims to have the drones on the beaches of Chile by next summer.

Reference -  Green Solution, (Chile/South America, in Spanish).   Wikipedia/Algarrobo, Chile, (location, and demographics, in English). 

Related articles - WTVY 4.com,"Chilean company testing lifeguard drones", 3/16/15. .... "It works really well for us because during the trial the drone got there before I did and this was good because that person had already got hold of the float," explained lifeguard Julian Vera. The drones are controlled from the beach and used to get to swimmers quickly while the lifeguard swims to their aid."  My Fox, DC, 3/16/15, "Lifeguard drones tested on beaches of Chile."  ABC 7 News, 3/16/15. "Drones used to save people on busy beaches in Chile."  Related video -  MSN/Raw, 3/16/15, from Green Solutions: "Drones to help beach lifeguards in Chile." Video from Green Solution, 38 seconds.

Related lifesaving drone use - Yahoo news/Katie Couric World 3.0, includes video interview with Andreas Raptopoulos, Matternet Corporation, 5:13 minutes. "Lifesaving Drones." "Matternet's mission is to develop an unmanned aerial transportation system that can reach anyone, anywhere, perhaps most importantly those living in underdeveloped parts of the world. I sat down with founder Andreas Raptopoulos, an entrepreneur who has big visions for the future of drones and their potential to do good. Drones have the ultimate capability, in his words, "to redefine how we transport things around us." ... Nearly 1 billion people on the planet live without access to all-season roads, meaning a significant portion of the population is unable to receive aid and emergency supplies when needed. .... Andreas told me that while driving to isolated villages could take a day or longer, a drone could travel the same distances in less than 30 minutes."  Matternet/Press.

Posted by Kathy Meeh