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Drone Used to Save Two Swimmers Caught in Rough Surf at Lennox Head

posted by cmn32480 on Monday January 22 2018, @04:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the swim-across-the-riptide,-not-up-it dept.

Fnord666 writes:

A dramatic rescue at Lennox Head on the state's Far North Coast has made world history after new drone technology was used to save two swimmers struggling in heavy surf.

As lifeguards were training to familiarise themselves with the drone equipment as part of the NSW government's $16 million shark mitigation strategy on Thursday, a call came through of two distressed swimmers.

Lifeguard supervisor Jai Sheridan, the 2017 NSW Lifeguard of the Year, was piloting the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the time, immediately responded and was able to locate the swimmers within minutes of the initial alert.

"The Little Ripper UAV certainly proved itself today, it is an amazingly efficient piece of lifesaving equipment and a delight to fly," Mr Sheridan said.

"I was able to launch it, fly it to the location, and drop the pod all in about one to two minutes. On a normal day that would have taken our lifeguards a few minutes longer to reach the members of the public."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/world-first-a-drone-has-been-used-to-rescue-two-swimmers-struggling-in-heavy-surf-20180118-h0kg9m.html

Also at: engadget

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday January 22 2018, @06:40PM (4 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Monday January 22 2018, @06:40PM (#626176) Journal

    Lennox Head on the state's Far North Coast

    Is Lennox Head so famous that I should know what state's Far North Coast it is on? I was thinking Greenland, for Thea's sake!

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Monday January 22 2018, @07:09PM (3 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday January 22 2018, @07:09PM (#626188)

    It would help, but the source link has an .au domain suffix and immediately after that is "/nsw/". In addition, "NSW" is mentioned twice (including "NSW government" in the 2nd line of the summary). So it's pretty clearly in New South Wales, Australia.

    Would you be irritated if a news article talked about a place in some state, and in several other places in the summary mentioned "California"?

    But I agree, the editor really should have added "[of New South Wales, Australia]" to the first line so we don't have to hunt for this stuff.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Freeman on Monday January 22 2018, @07:24PM (2 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Monday January 22 2018, @07:24PM (#626197) Journal

      I assumed California topics just were not safe for work.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Monday January 22 2018, @08:07PM (1 child)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Monday January 22 2018, @08:07PM (#626205) Journal

        Exactly, NSW! But the Far North Coast of California is just Oregon, not Papua New Guinea.