Picture the scene. It’s the early hours of a cold winter’s morning and Humberside Police have been called to the scene of a car accident on the A16 near Ludborough south of Grimsby, Lincolnshire. With temperatures below freezing and first light hours away, the police officers know they are in a race against time to locate a man who was last seen staggering away from the car that had flipped onto its side. What to do? Send in the drones that’s what. That is precisely what Lincolnshire Police did and it is a good job too. For armed with thermal imaging equipment, the drone was able to locate the unconscious man lying in a six foot deep ditch some 160 metres away from the crash site. Directed by the drone, a police officer was then able to find the man, who at that stage was already suffering from hypothermia, and to quickly arrange for him to be taken to hospital for treatment. Footage of the dramatic drone rescue was later tweeted by Lincolnshire police officer @WoldsSgt, known as ‘Tempo’, who was the officer who called in the drone squad. The Lincolnshire Police drone team clearly felt Tempo deserved a mention in despatches, later tweeting: ‘Thanks to @WoldsSgt for the request that may well have saved his life’. Lincolnshire Police deputy chief constable Craig Naylor added: ‘Great work Tempo and drone pilot.’ Just goes to show, all that’s needed for humans and machines to work in perfect harmony is finding the right Tempo.
