Episode 62: Drone Safety Programs: From Growth to Standardization with 33-year Fire Vet Scott Mlakar

This week on the InterDrone Podcast we sat down with Scott Mlakar, a 33-year fire service veteran and a 32-year member of the Willoughby (OH) Fire Department He currently is in charge of developing and implementing Lake County’s Public Safety unmanned aerial systems (UAS) program that serves fire, police, and all county special teams including hazmat, technical rescue, FIU, SAR, bomb squad, SWAT, and narcotics. He is a licensed FAA 107 remote pilot. Articles from the recording: Scott is a 33-year fire service veteran and a 32-year member of the Willoughby (OH) Fire Department. He currently is in charge of developing and implementing Lake County’s Public Safety unmanned aerial systems (UAS) program that serves fire, police, and all county special teams including hazmat, technical rescue, FIU, SAR, bomb squad, SWAT, and narcotics. He is a licensed FAA 107 remote pilot. Listen to full podcast: https://interdrone.com/interdrone-podcast/ Meet Scott and InterDrone Online December 15-17: https://interdrone.com/interdrone-online/ Articles from the recording 1. Firefighters using drones to help fight fires across the State - https://www.thedesertreview.com/news/firefighters-using-drones-to-help-fight-fires-across-the-state/article_5d9bee08-fe9d-11ea-b692-1f7ac2cd4e3e.html Crews are continuing to battle 26 major wildfires in California with more than 18,200 firefighters on the front lines. A spokesperson said that “California firefighters are increasingly deploying drones to provide important situational awareness — enabling them to better spot fire trends and determine the best and safest way to deploy resources” A spokesperson explained that drones can be deployed quickly to fly overhead and provide real-time visual and heat imagery to command centers using special sensors. 2. Public Safety Drones: the Move Towards Standardized Training - https://dronelife.com/2020/10/05/public-safety-drones-the-move-towards-standardized-training/ An agreement between ASTM International and DRONERESPONDERS will move towards standardized global training of public safety personnel. The new program, Public Safety UAS STI, “will provide public safety UAS training providers with a third-party evaluation of their curriculum for conformance to applicable ASTM standards,” says the press release. ” Programs that meet or exceed UAS STI will receive a certificate and digital emblem from DRONERESPONDERS and ASTM confirming they have been approved as a Public Safety UAS (STI) Approved Training Provider.” 3. Ohio Drone, T-Mobile to bring live-streaming tech to drones - https://dronedj.com/2020/10/23/ohio-drone-t-mobile-to-bring-live-streaming-tech-to-drones/ Ohio Drone has partnered with T-Mobile to bring live-streaming capabilities to drones via T-Mobile’s 5G network. The company hopes to have 100,000 accounts running within the first year of business once it goes live in January 2021.