ASB Dresden Drone Unit
The Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) is a German disaster response drone unit for the city of Dresden, supporting local police, fire department and rescue services. Using drones at the scene of an emergency can increase response team efficiency and enhance first responder safety. For example, drones are used to detect pockets of embers, track down fugitives or find survivors. Unauthorized drone flights by civilians have made the drone unit’s work more difficult or even impossible because a collision with its 9 kg drone could have devastating consequences. Without complete airspace awareness, the ASB drone unit was not able to provide safe support.
To prevent collisions with unauthorized drones and to enable safe operation of the rescue / reconnaissance drones, the ASB drone unit uses Dedrone at the operation site. The rapidly deployed system provides real-time data on drone activity within a radius of up to 5 km. The drone unit and other emergency services such as law enforcement agencies then use DedroneTracker.AI in the mobile control center and to make quick, data-driven decisions ensuring safe operations for first responders and the public. Dedrone alerts officers and first responders of the presence of a drone, tracks drones’ flight paths, and leads officers to the drone pilots to stop flights.
By implementing Dedrone, the ASB Dresden drone unit is the first in Germany to use drone detection for its DFR mission. This pioneering achievement not only protects its own operational capability, but also the first responders and civilians at the scene.
We wish we had worked with Dedrone earlier. During the major forest fire in Saxon, Switzerland (2022), we had no situational awareness at all. Drone units from all over Germany and the Czech Republic were on site to provide support, but no one knew where the others were flying. With Dedrone, we now accurate situational awareness of the airspace and can coordinate with other emergency services. This means efficient and safe DFR operations.
Stefan Riedel, Head of the ASB Dresden Drone Unit
