Messages to emergency services are often scarce and unclear, and the response will always be based on the worst-case scenario. A drone can often respond faster than personnel in a car, and stream video from a scene of an accident, which makes it possible to scale the response up or down as needed. The main rule, however, is that drone pilots must be able to visually observe the drone and the surrounding airspace. This means that it is not possible for the fire department to send a drone in advance to clarify an alarm or reported incident.
The project will establish a controlled airspace, called U-space, over parts of Røros municipality. Here, so-called BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) flights will be opened, which will allow the Midt-Norge 110-central IKS and the local fire department to experiment with the use of drones deployed in hangars. The service model is known as "drone as first responder" from similar trials in the police in several countries (including Norway).
The work is structured around four main themes:
- Air traffic management (U-space).
- Competence and compliance with regulations.
- Drone hangars as new physical infrastructure.
- Interaction across services, municipalities and emergency services.
The fire and rescue service is characterized by being the most decentralized of the emergency services, and by municipal ownership and management. This gives them goals, assumptions and framework conditions that are different from the police and defense, which are also sectors that are rapidly strengthening their expertise and capacity in drone use.
