Ocean City Emergency Responders Turn to Drones as Lifesaving Tool

By MADDY VITALE Ocean City emergency personnel from firefighters to police officers to members of the beach patrol are trained to save lives, assist the public and keep the community safe. With ever-changing technology, the city is bringing on a tool that has already proved to be useful in other departments across the country – drones. On Thursday at Richard Grimes Field, some members of the Fire Department, Beach Patrol and the Police Department were training to become certified to fly drones. “In public safety, drone usage has definitely become more and more popular for search and rescue,” explained Fire Department Deputy Chief Bernie Walker. “If we have a structure fire or a large HAZMAT spill, the drone is another tool for us to put up to survey the area." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCDW4me10H0 Walker said drones can be used to monitor scenes. For instance, the drone can be used to search for fires before firefighters enter a building. It can also be used to hover above a fire to determine how quickly and in which direction the blaze is spreading. "You could see fire spread up on the roof before we could get personnel up there," Walker said. "It is definitely something that will be an excellent tool for us.” The drones are also important tools to use in water and land rescues. “We can use it on the beach for a missing bather. We can go out on the marsh and on the bay, put it up quickly and easily and scan a large area that would have taken us a long time to search with personnel or boats or anything else,” Walker said. The Fire Department got its drone a couple of months ago and began the drone instruction last month. A drone comes in for a landing. Jamieson Allen, a firefighter in the Atlantic City Fire Department, is the flight instructor contracted to train the Ocean City firefighters, police officers and lifeguards on how to get their FAA drone pilot certificate. Allen was instructing Ocean City Fire Department EMT Winston Roberts on techniques to drone flying. “Right now, Ocean City is starting the drone program, and to get it up and running we are trying to get a number of pilots from each of the three entities,” Allen said of the fire, beach patrol and police departments. Both Walker and Ocean City firefighter Allie Rothman are trained to fly drones. They attended classes in Atlantic City in the fall. Firefighters watch the flight map under the supervision of Atlantic City firefighter and flight instructor Jamieson Allen, in cap. Walker said that the hope is to have an ample number of responders certified in the near future. “We have three platoons and for public safety, we want to certify a number on each platoon to have one or two pilots available in case of an emergency. We’d love to use the drone for any emergency scene,” Walker said. While Allen is there to handle the main instruction for the course, like Walker, Rothman was available to instruct her fellow firefighters, such as firefighter Dan Boardman. Rothman gave Boardman some instruction on flying a white drone that he brought back and forth using the controls while following a course. “There are a lot of different applications we have come up with on how we can use the drone. The police department will have separate applications,” Rothman said. “The way the world is going with technology, you have to keep up with it. There are a lot of different things we will be able to use the drones for in various emergencies.” Drone flight-certified firefighter Allie Rothman instructs firefighter Dan Boardman on how to fly a drone. Boardman said he liked his initial training on drone flying. “I definitely think there are a lot of different uses for it for what we do,” Boardman noted. “I had never flown a drone before this course and we are in our fourth week.” Whether on land, searching a home, or hovering above water or over a structure fire, there are many uses emergency personnel know the drones can be used for to potentially save the lives of the public as well as emergency responders. At the moment, the city’s Beach Patrol does not have its own drone. But Beach Patrol Lt. Liam Rennick and Beach Patrol Lt. Matt DiMarino, who were at Grimes Field training on the drones Thursday, said they would love to see the Beach Patrol purchase a drone in the future. Ocean City Beach Patrol lieutenants Liam Rennick, left, and Matt DiMarino operate a drone. Rennick is the first of the lifeguards to receive drone flight instruction. DiMarino attended the training to watch and to video it and take photos. “A drone would be utilized primarily to check out beach conditions in the morning and then throughout the day. It would be eyes in the sky,” Rennick said. He added, “At the moment, we don’t have our own drone. I will be the first one going through the program. Then after that, we are hoping to have more people trained on it so that after hours or in inlet situations, it could be dispersed along the island where needed.” Fire Department Deputy Chief Bernie Walker, left, and Deputy Chief Tom Shallcross watch training. A drone flies over the course. Atlantic City Fire Department firefighter and drone flight instructor Jamieson Allen watches Ocean City Fire Department EMT Winston Roberts on the controls. Firefighters look at the drone controls. (Photo courtesy of Matt DiMarino) A drone hovers above Grimes Field during flight training. (Photo courtesy of Matt DiMarino)