Lifesaving drone drops funded
Cambria gets nearly $2M to remotely deliver medical supplies in rural areas
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer Robert C. Hampshire looks at a medical supply delivery drone following a press conference at Solomon Run Fire Company in Johnstown. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Cambria County Geographic Information Systems director Steve Kocsis (right) explains the mapping of obstacles on a countywide map to University of Pittsburgh Research Project Manager John Dubnansky. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer Robert C. Hampshire looks at a medical supply delivery drone following a press conference at Solomon Run Fire Company in Johnstown. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Cambria County Geographic Information Systems director Steve Kocsis (right) explains the mapping of obstacles on a countywide map to University of Pittsburgh Research Project Manager John Dubnansky. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Trending
JOHNSTOWN -- The Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission received a nearly $2 million grant Thursday that will enable Cambria County emergency services to deliver lifesaving medical supplies to rural areas by drone.
The funds were awarded as a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program. Now in its second year, the program was established under the Biden administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which "provides $500 million over five years for state, local and tribal governments to leverage advances in technology to create safer, more efficient and more innovative transportation systems," according to a DOT release.
"Making investments in communities in the Southern Alleghenies, for the workforce and for the economy of this area, is just really important as a part of President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg's infrastructure bill," said Robert C. Hampshire, DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer.
A two-stage program, the grants awarded Thursday will focus on Stage 1 activities, including planning and prototyping, the release stated.
The grant recipients, project partners and local and state government representatives gathered outside of the Solomon Run Fire Company near Johnstown to discuss the specifics of the Emergency Life Saving through Multi-modal Mobility (ELSa-M3) project and view two drones that will be used for deliveries.
When preparing for drone operations, various program data and imagery from the United States Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, PA Emergency Management Agency, local 911 agencies, FAA airspace management and state and federal DOT are "combined together to build a safe, advanced aviation environment," Cambria County GIS Director Stephen Kocsis said.
"We're laying out a sensor network," John Eberhardt, managing director at ATA Aviation, said. "We've already got a few sensors in place for today to demonstrate the system, and what that will allow is everything in the air to know about everything else in the air. That's how we do this safely -- when you combine that four-dimensional digital model."
Art Martynuska, Cambria County department of emergency services and 911 director, said that the project had been three years in the works.
"The number of EMS services that we have lost in Cambria County is close to 34, 35 services since 1977," Martynuska said. "We're talking, we dropped 72% of what we had. So we have to find innovative ways to try and help that and that's what this is."
Phase one of the project is to "build the sensors out" in the yellow area shown on the county map, Martynuska explained. "Then we could cover more of the county, more of us."
The two models of drones on display had different capabilities, with one having a range of 30 miles and the other a range of 100.
To create the map, the emergency services identified "certain calls that would benefit from a drone response," Martynuska said, adding that the red dots were calls for fire services while the blue dots were for medical calls.
"This starts with a 911 call," Greg James, the vice president of business development at DroneUp, said. "The data goes in the system, the drug gets automatically dispatched and our goal is to get it down to a few minutes. Every minute we get an AED to somebody faster reduces their chance of death by 20%."
For the fire calls, Martynuska said that the drones would be able to use thermal technology to see where heat is showing on a building.
"So, is there a lot of heat showing through the roof?" Martynuska asked. "Then the roof has been weakened, so guys shouldn't go on the roof."
In the long run, Martynuska can see Cambria County becoming a hub for these services in southwestern Pennsylvania. He said that Phase 2 would involve expanding the technology but, for now, they are going to focus on starting to deploy the sensors "ASAP."
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.
Fiscal Year 2023 Planning and Prototyping Grants
Recipient: Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission
Project name: Emergency Life Saving through Multi-modal Mobility (ELSa-M3)
Funding: $1,925,256
Project type: Uncrewed Aircraft System
Project Summary: Use of uncrewed aerial systems to provide emergency response supplies in a rural region
Project Partners: Alaska Center for UAS Integration, Aerium, Aloft, ATAA, DroneUp, OneSky, Somerset County Department of Emergency Services, Johnstown Airport, Saint Francis University, Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission, Cambria County Emergency Management