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A drone under the control of a Menlo Park Fire Protection District firefighter has looked down on situations involving lost boaters in the San Francisco Bay, traffic congestion along routes used by fire engines, and flood conditions along San Francisquito Creek. What other capabilities might it have?
Perhaps a drone could deliver to a person in need a defibrillator, a supply of oxygen, a life preserver, or a walkie-talkie. These are among the ideas on the table if the district’s governing board approves a proposed collaboration with Menlo Park-based Matternet Inc., a specialist in the use of autonomous drones, Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said in a Feb. 20 statement.
The board meets at 7 p.m. tonight (Feb. 21) in the board room at 170 Middlefield Road in Menlo Park.
The collaboration, if the board approves, could lead to innovations in drone use, the chief said. “We’re focused on … results that make sense to first responders,” he said in the statement, adding that the district is looking for “useful tools, not toys, that can enhance real world emergency operations.”
Matternet, according to its website, is already in a collaboration with Mercedes Benz on a project that involves electric delivery vans equipped with autonomous drones mounted on the van’s roof.
The fire district, which received approval to operate drones from the Federal Aviation Administration in May 2016, was the first fire agency in California to do so and now has four drones and six firefighters trained to operate them, Chief Schapelhouman has said.
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