Umatilla County Search and Rescue Foundation received a donation of $5,000 from Umatilla Electric Cooperative for the purchase of a new drone.
The drone will be used primarily for Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team, but will also be deployed for law enforcement purposes, according to the sheriff’s office.
The drone, a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, is specially configured by the vendor for public safety deployments. The dual in the name refers to the dual camera system on the aircraft. It contains a 4k video capable visible camera along with a lower resolution infrared camera. The control pilot is able to switch between the two video feeds or view a mix of the two. The infrared camera can be useful in locating the warm bodies of lost or injured persons, especially when ambient temperatures are low.
The new aircraft has a longer flight time than the current UMASAR drones and also can fly in lower temperatures. In addition, the aircraft can be outfitted with a bright spotlight or a speaker. Using the speaker, the control pilot can either make real time announcements or play pre-recorded messages.
The drone has a special integrated controller that can be rapidly deployed in emergencies. The UMASAR drone team is excited to add this new aircraft to its drone fleet. The aircraft has already been used in an actual mission. A UMASAR drone team responded to Richland in Baker County in the search for a missing juvenile. Unfortunately, the body of the juvenile was subsequently located in Brownlee Reservoir.
