A missing vulnerable man was found safe along the Hudson riverbank in Rensselaer Sunday night after fire crews scrambled thermal-imaging drones into the dark sky to search for him. He was discovered sitting beneath a city sign on the riverbank and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Drones and thermal imaging were critical to locating the man, according to cbs6albany.com, which reported that Rensselaer City Fire Department Assistant Chief Randy Cherubino said the drone asset was requested around 9 p.m. and the team was mobilized quickly. Accounts differ on exactly how fast the search wrapped up: the station reported the man was found within 45 minutes of the drone getting airborne, while NEWS10 reported he was located less than 30 minutes after drone teams deployed.
CNYNews offered additional detail on how the search unfolded, reporting that crews deployed two drones equipped with thermal-imaging technology and that the technology ultimately helped locate the man sitting beneath a sign along the riverbank, according to CNYNews. The outlet also reported that police officers reached him and guided him to safety, where fire department EMS personnel and Mohawk Ambulance Service evaluated him.
Multiple Agencies Joined the Search
The rescue effort pulled in more than one local agency. Police officers reached the man and guided him to safety.
NEWS10 Chief William Brooking Jr. credited the technology itself with cutting down the response time. “The speed of that rescue was undoubtably pushed by the technology,” he said, per the station's report. The fire department currently has 10 trained drone pilots, the same report noted.
A Program Years in the Making
This was not the fire department's first rodeo with drone rescues. Rensselaer City Fire Department officials said their drone team had been called out six or seven times that month alone, according to the earlier cbs6albany.com report, and the department has operated drones for roughly three years. Two of its drone pilots had completed thermal-imaging training at the NYS Preparedness Center in Oriskany just days before the riverbank search, per the same account.
No government agency has released further identifying details about the man, and his age, exact medical condition, and the reason he was considered vulnerable have not been made public. It also remains unclear how long he had been missing before the search began.
