Capstone discuss

6

The Use of Drones in Emergency and Disaster Management

Problem Statement

Integration of drones into disaster and emergency management is a big step forward in technology that could change how people respond to crises in a big way (Restas, 2015). Traditional ways of responding to emergencies are often hampered by problems, such as limited access to affected areas, slow or missing real-time data, and high risks for first rescuers. Drones are an appealing answer to these problems because they can be used for things like surveillance from above, quick damage assessments, and quick delivery of supplies to places that are hard to get to or not accessible at all (Daud et al., 2022). Drones are very useful for improving situational awareness and making quick decisions in emergency situations because they are flexible and quick. Drones are being used more and more in disaster management, but there is still a huge need for study to fully test how well they work, find the best ways to use them, and look into ethical and legal issues. This proposal tries to fill that gap by looking into the use of drones in disaster and emergency management in great detail.

The main goal of this study is to look into the many ways that drones can help with crisis response, focusing on how they can improve reaction times, the way resources are used, and how well they work overall to lessen the effects of disasters (Daud et al., 2022). By looking at how drones can be used in real life during different types of emergencies, this study aims to find out how much they can improve standard response systems and the lives of people who are affected. This study also wants to find the main problems and restrictions that come with using drones, such as technical issues and moral problems, and come up with ways to solve them. It is the hope that this prospectus will help policymakers, emergency responders, and other people involved in disaster preparation and reaction by showing the pros and cons of using drones in emergency and disaster management (Restas, 2015). In the end, this study aims to add to what is already known about the subject and help come up with smart plans to make people more resilient and lessen the effects of disasters by using drones in a smart way.

Proposed Methodology

The proposed research method for this study on the use of drones in emergency and crisis management is meant to give a full picture of the topic by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. This framework for research aims to cover all the different aspects of using drones in emergency conditions by using the ideas put forward by Creswell and Yin. Qualitative methods, such as case studies and conversations with stakeholders, will give us a lot of useful information about how drone technology can be used in real-life disaster situations. Through these qualitative methods, the study aims to get to the bottom of the complex dynamics of drone use by looking into things like operational challenges, success in various settings, and stakeholder views. The study wants to learn more about the practical effects of adding drones to current emergency response systems by talking to people who are directly involved in those systems. This will add real-world perspectives to the analysis.

Along with the qualitative aspect, quantitative analysis will be a key part of the approach. It will focus on collecting and analyzing data about how drones are used during emergencies in a planned way. In this quantitative part of the study, things like reaction times, cost-effectiveness, and overall results of drone interventions will be compared to more traditional ways of responding to emergencies (Wankmüller et al., 2021). The study aims to find out the pros and cons of using drones in disaster management by carefully looking at these numerical metrics. This will give real-world proof to help with decision-making. As part of the approach, a thorough review of existing literature and policy papers will be done to put the results in the bigger picture of ethical and regulatory issues. We want to get a full picture of the role of drones in emergency and disaster management by combining information from qualitative interviews, quantitative data analysis, and literature reviews. This will add to the body of knowledge in the field and help shape future research and policymaking.

Expected Value of the Research

The expected value of this study lies in its ability to greatly improve emergency and disaster management by giving researchers a complete picture of how to use drones (Restas, 2015). This study wants to fill in important gaps in current knowledge and practice by taking a close look at the part that drones play in improving reaction times. Researchers want to give lawmakers, first responders, and other interested parties more complete picture by carefully looking at both the usefulness and difficulties of using drones in different types of disasters (Velev et al., 2019). This study aims to help people make better strategy decisions by showing the pros and cons of adding drones to current disaster response systems. This will allow for the creation of more effective and resilient disaster response plans.

A very important part of this study is also looking at the legal and moral issues that come up when using drones. The study's goal is to give useful advice for creating responsible drone rules and laws by looking into these complicated problems. Using drones in emergency and disaster management must follow set ethical standards and legal frameworks (Wankmüller et al., 2021). This study aims to make drone deployment safer and more accountable by checking that these standards are followed. In the end, this study hopes to help improve overall response effectiveness and resilience in the face of disasters by deepening knowledge and making it easier for people to make smart decisions. This will ultimately benefit communities and individuals who are affected by disasters. The knowledge gained can also of value to the current and future generations.

References

Abdulai, R. T., & Owusu-Ansah, A. (2014). Essential ingredients of a good research proposal for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the social sciences. SAGE Open, July-September 2014, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014548178

Daud, S. M. S. M., Yusof, M. Y. P. M., Heo, C. C., Khoo, L. S., Singh, M. K. C., Mahmood, M. S., & Nawawi, H. (2022). Applications of drone in disaster management: A scoping review. Science & Justice, 62(1), 30-42. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1355030621001477

Restas, A. (2015). Drone applications for supporting disaster management. World Journal of Engineering and Technology, 3(3C), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.4236/wjet.2015.33C047

Velev, D., Zlateva, P. V., Steshina, L., & Petukhov, I. (2019). Challenges of using drones and virtual/augmented reality for disaster risk management. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-3/W8, 437-440. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-3-W8-437-2019

Wankmüller, C., Kunovjanek, M., & Mayrgündter, S. (2021). Drones in emergency response – evidence from cross-border, multi-disciplinary usability tests. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 65, Article 102567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102567

Reply to Thread

6

Mr. Awono,

I love this topic. It holds a special place in my public safety career. Several years ago I was the only dispatcher in the state of California to be invited by the Police Officer Standards and Training unit to participate as a subject matter expert on the use and implementation of UAS/UAV operations for law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

I agree that drones are one of the most powerful tools to be implemented in public safety in recent decades. They will, eventually, replace traditional rotor wing aircraft for public safety surveillance use. I believe this to be several decades away, but I still believe it will occur. The current uses for sUAS/sUAV in public safety are like the tip of the iceberg. The overwhelming majority of operational and tactical uses of the tech have yet to be implemented or discovered. And that is just on the law enforcement side of public safety. The fire/EMS side of public safety will soon start to see the benefits and will also soon implement the tech for their own operations.

One of the largest operational issues with the implementation and deployment of sUAV/sUAS technology is the public buy in. the use of drones as a law enforcement tool still new, and the amount of vetted case law surrounding them is still limited. There is some, especially as it pertains to surveillance operations, but it is still limited. To my knowledge as of now there is are no “landmark” supreme court cases surrounding the tech and law enforcement. The potential political repercussions especially for lower levels of elected office and sUAV/sUAS use can be severe if they approve such tech for public safety without first properly vetting the use with the community. There is great potential for civil rights and privacy infringements with the technology.

Jeff

6

Good Evening Robert,

I am sure this will prove to be a very rewarding topic. I am fascinated by the use of drones in emergency management and implications for future use. We are also seeing that drones can be used illicitly as reported via open-source media coverage of the middle eastern conflict. In the United States, it seems that certain agencies have been quicker to adopt the technology than others.

Your approach to evaluating how drones can help with first responder surveillance will be very helpful for the emergency management field. The Coast Guard is evaluating how drones could augment aviation support that would typically be used during disaster response. For example, during a large oil spill event impacting a major coast line, a drone might be a more efficient way to capture real-time trajectory reports and monitor environmental impacts. I think that hurricane response is another great example. Drone surveillance would assist in damage assessment reports, such as port and ship assessments necessary to reconstitute major waterways.

There are also complexities associated with working through: operator usage requirements, FAA approval and other federal and legal regulatory requirements. Most importantly, I believe that privacy will be a large factor in allowing wide-spread drone usage. How does the average citizen respond to seeing a drone flying above as they are walking down a street? Or they look out their window and happen to see it flying by?

You discussed analyzing the pros and cons of drone usage. One con that comes to mind is the risk of complacency. If emergency managers start to rely too heavily on drones to provide situational awareness, they might lose the value that comes from human judgment. I don’t think that machines can ever replace the onscene expertise and practical field experience that a human brings towards evaluating disaster mitigation requirements.

Good luck as you continue to analyze and move forward with this topic.

Sincerely, Michelle

6

The Use of Drones in Emergency and Disaster Management

Problem Statement

Integration of drones into disaster and emergency management is a big step forward in technology that could change how people respond to crises in a big way (Restas, 2015). Traditional ways of responding to emergencies are often hampered by problems, such as limited access to affected areas, slow or missing real-time data, and high risks for first rescuers. Drones are an appealing answer to these problems because they can be used for things like surveillance from above, quick damage assessments, and quick delivery of supplies to places that are hard to get to or not accessible at all (Daud et al., 2022). Drones are very useful for improving situational awareness and making quick decisions in emergency situations because they are flexible and quick. Drones are being used more and more in disaster management, but there is still a huge need for study to fully test how well they work, find the best ways to use them, and look into ethical and legal issues. This proposal tries to fill that gap by looking into the use of drones in disaster and emergency management in great detail.

The main goal of this study is to look into the many ways that drones can help with crisis response, focusing on how they can improve reaction times, the way resources are used, and how well they work overall to lessen the effects of disasters (Daud et al., 2022). By looking at how drones can be used in real life during different types of emergencies, this study aims to find out how much they can improve standard response systems and the lives of people who are affected. This study also wants to find the main problems and restrictions that come with using drones, such as technical issues and moral problems, and come up with ways to solve them. It is the hope that this prospectus will help policymakers, emergency responders, and other people involved in disaster preparation and reaction by showing the pros and cons of using drones in emergency and disaster management (Restas, 2015). In the end, this study aims to add to what is already known about the subject and help come up with smart plans to make people more resilient and lessen the effects of disasters by using drones in a smart way.

Proposed Methodology

The proposed research method for this study on the use of drones in emergency and crisis management is meant to give a full picture of the topic by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. This framework for research aims to cover all the different aspects of using drones in emergency conditions by using the ideas put forward by Creswell and Yin. Qualitative methods, such as case studies and conversations with stakeholders, will give us a lot of useful information about how drone technology can be used in real-life disaster situations. Through these qualitative methods, the study aims to get to the bottom of the complex dynamics of drone use by looking into things like operational challenges, success in various settings, and stakeholder views. The study wants to learn more about the practical effects of adding drones to current emergency response systems by talking to people who are directly involved in those systems. This will add real-world perspectives to the analysis.

Along with the qualitative aspect, quantitative analysis will be a key part of the approach. It will focus on collecting and analyzing data about how drones are used during emergencies in a planned way. In this quantitative part of the study, things like reaction times, cost-effectiveness, and overall results of drone interventions will be compared to more traditional ways of responding to emergencies (Wankmüller et al., 2021). The study aims to find out the pros and cons of using drones in disaster management by carefully looking at these numerical metrics. This will give real-world proof to help with decision-making. As part of the approach, a thorough review of existing literature and policy papers will be done to put the results in the bigger picture of ethical and regulatory issues. We want to get a full picture of the role of drones in emergency and disaster management by combining information from qualitative interviews, quantitative data analysis, and literature reviews. This will add to the body of knowledge in the field and help shape future research and policymaking.

Expected Value of the Research

The expected value of this study lies in its ability to greatly improve emergency and disaster management by giving researchers a complete picture of how to use drones (Restas, 2015). This study wants to fill in important gaps in current knowledge and practice by taking a close look at the part that drones play in improving reaction times. Researchers want to give lawmakers, first responders, and other interested parties more complete picture by carefully looking at both the usefulness and difficulties of using drones in different types of disasters (Velev et al., 2019). This study aims to help people make better strategy decisions by showing the pros and cons of adding drones to current disaster response systems. This will allow for the creation of more effective and resilient disaster response plans.

A very important part of this study is also looking at the legal and moral issues that come up when using drones. The study's goal is to give useful advice for creating responsible drone rules and laws by looking into these complicated problems. Using drones in emergency and disaster management must follow set ethical standards and legal frameworks (Wankmüller et al., 2021). This study aims to make drone deployment safer and more accountable by checking that these standards are followed. In the end, this study hopes to help improve overall response effectiveness and resilience in the face of disasters by deepening knowledge and making it easier for people to make smart decisions. This will ultimately benefit communities and individuals who are affected by disasters. The knowledge gained can also of value to the current and future generations.

References

Abdulai, R. T., & Owusu-Ansah, A. (2014). Essential ingredients of a good research proposal for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the social sciences. SAGE Open, July-September 2014, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014548178

Daud, S. M. S. M., Yusof, M. Y. P. M., Heo, C. C., Khoo, L. S., Singh, M. K. C., Mahmood, M. S., & Nawawi, H. (2022). Applications of drone in disaster management: A scoping review. Science & Justice, 62(1), 30-42. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1355030621001477

Restas, A. (2015). Drone applications for supporting disaster management. World Journal of Engineering and Technology, 3(3C), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.4236/wjet.2015.33C047

Velev, D., Zlateva, P. V., Steshina, L., & Petukhov, I. (2019). Challenges of using drones and virtual/augmented reality for disaster risk management. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-3/W8, 437-440. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-3-W8-437-2019

Wankmüller, C., Kunovjanek, M., & Mayrgündter, S. (2021). Drones in emergency response – evidence from cross-border, multi-disciplinary usability tests. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 65, Article 102567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102567

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