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UMD UAS Test Site Hosts Fire / EMS UAS Summit

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Marc Bashoor, Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department Fire Chief and Council of Governments Fire Chief's Committee Chairman, welcomes participants and discusses the significance of the workshop to the Fire/EMS community.

The University of Maryland (UMD) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site, in partnership with the Charles County Department of Emergency Services and the Prince George’s County Fire/ EMS Department, hosted National Capital Region Fire/EMS leaders for a first-of-its-kind UAS requirements development workshop.

Fire and EMS professionals worked with University of Maryland experts to develop and refine requirements, spoke with participating vendor engineers, and watched flight demonstrations. Discussions revolved around Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the state-of-the-art in unmanned systems and sensors, and how this information can be applied to specific use-cases.

John Filer, Chief, Charles County Department of Emergency Services said, “This summit was very valuable to the fire/EMS community. Working with experts at the University of Maryland as well as vendor technical engineers allowed us to shape requirements that will help us become more responsive in our work and forge a path for the future of emergency responders. There’s still work to do, and we’re pleased to have such a great team to work with.” 

Working with experts at the University of Maryland, the FAA as well as vendor technical engineers allowed us to shape requirements that will help us become more responsive in our work and forge a path for the future of emergency responders.

John Filer, Chief, Charles County Department of Emergency Services

Patrick O’Shea, University of Maryland Vice President and Chief Research Officer, stayed to hear the outcome of the workshop. He said, “The focus and primary goal of our research initiatives is improving human lives. The work undertaken here and the time committed to thinking through what really matters, and what will have the greatest impact, is incredibly valuable to us.”

The workshop provided an exclusive opportunity for the first responder community to participate with a wide variety of Subject Matter Experts to scope and shape the future of UAS for their community.

Kasey Cooper, Director, Research and Development for UAV Solutions, Inc. said, “It was well worth our time to attend this event. The opportunity to speak one-on-one to users and to hear first-hand what they expect and need is invaluable to us. The summit was definitely a win-win for everyone and we’re looking forward to participating in future events.”

For additional information on the test site’s mission, vision, and goals, please visit www.uas-test.umd.edu. To request research assistance, complete and return a Research Flight Request, available on the Contact Us page of our website.

Published May 13, 2015