HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) – The Hollywood Fire Department is using new technology in an effort to help anyone struggling in the water and help save lives.
Hollywood Fire Rescue & Beach Safety on Tuesday gave 7News a demonstration of their newly launched drone-assisted rescue system.
“Somebody could hold onto that and buy them some time until a rescue could get to them,” said Hollywood Fire Rescue Battalion Chief David Guernsey.
Hollywood is the first fire department in Broward County to have this life-saving technology, which equips their drones with flotation devices to fly to people in distress.
“This is how it comes packaged. It is water activated; soon as it hits the water, it deploys and then turns into this,” said Guernsey.
The system is set to enhance emergency response times, with the drone capable of going up to two miles offshore and having a mile of range to deploy the device.
“This is able to help support our lifeguards when they’re off duty, to protect our beaches, to be able to help rescue someone,” said Guernsey. “This doesn’t save them, but this will buy them time for a rescuer to get them to safety.”
The drone is meant to give a fighting chance to those in the water as they wait for help to arrive, especially when there are no lifeguards on duty.
“You know, our lifeguards are great here in the City of Hollywood, but if it’s after-hours, and someone from the fire department or police department is going out to rescue them, it might be out of their capabilities, so this will help them with that,” said Guernsey.
Officials hope to bring a sense of safety to their community.
“Well, with the amount of water that’s in the City of Hollywood — it’s something that is near and dear to us — we wanna make sure we can protect our citizens when they need it,” said Guernsey.
Officials said the drone will not be used in every situation, with factors like weather affecting the rescue response.
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