Command and coordination

Why this matters

In a large incident, several drone teams from different agencies, rescue helicopters and boats may work in the same area. Without coordination, drones may collide or block helicopter routes, halting life-saving work. The knowledge unit on coordination cites the FAA’s warning that uncoordinated drones force firefighting aircraft to stop working. Coordination is therefore part of safety, not paperwork.

Mission requests and roles

A good mission request states the question to be answered, the area, the urgency, the data recipient and the deliverable format before any decision to fly. Small teams may combine roles, but the checking function must never disappear.

Closing a mission requires confirmation of receipt; pressing send does not mean the recipient has read and can use the data. When a mission stops part-way, the coordinator must be told which parts have been surveyed and which have no data yet.

Separating drones from other aircraft

The basic method is to assign each team an altitude and time block. Two teams’ blocks must not overlap in both time and altitude at once, and a buffer is needed. The coordinator in the command post allocates them.

from itertools import combinations

blocks = [  # name, start min, end min, floor ft, ceiling ft
    ("UAS-1", 0, 60, 0, 300),
    ("UAS-2", 30, 90, 200, 400),
    ("HELI", 45, 75, 500, 1000),
]
VERTICAL_BUFFER_FT = 100

for a, b in combinations(blocks, 2):
    time_overlap = a[1] < b[2] and b[1] < a[2]
    gap = max(b[3] - a[4], a[3] - b[4])           # vertical gap; negative = overlap
    if time_overlap and gap < VERTICAL_BUFFER_FT:
        print(f"CONFLICT {a[0]} / {b[0]}: overlap in time, vertical gap {gap} ft")
    else:
        print(f"ok {a[0]} / {b[0]}")

CONFLICT UAS-1 / UAS-2: overlap in time, vertical gap -100 ft
ok UAS-1 / HELI
ok UAS-2 / HELI

Site assessment and stop conditions

The knowledge unit on site assessment draws on the site safety assessment section of CAAT’s operations manual guidance (CAAT-GM-UAS-001). Risk is written as a chain: hazard → who is exposed → possible harm → control → owner → evidence of checking. HOLD is used when key information is unconfirmed, for example when the altitude block has not yet been received from the coordinator. Stop conditions agreed in advance include another aircraft entering the area, abnormal communications, or weather departing from the plan.

Delivering emergency equipment

Drones can deliver automated external defibrillators (AEDs) faster than ambulances in some cases. In the Swedish study by Schierbeck and colleagues (2023), drones were dispatched 72 times and delivered the AED in 58; where comparison was possible, the drone arrived before the ambulance in 67% of cases, with a median lead of 3 minutes 14 seconds. Results depend on distance and dispatch time.

for km in (2, 4, 8):
    drone_min = 2 + km * 1000 / 15 / 60
    ambulance_min = 3 + km * 1.4 * 1000 / 8 / 60
    print(f"{km} km: drone {drone_min:.1f} min, ambulance {ambulance_min:.1f} min, "
          f"drone ahead by {ambulance_min - drone_min:.1f} min")

2 km: drone 4.2 min, ambulance 8.8 min, drone ahead by 4.6 min
4 km: drone 6.4 min, ambulance 14.7 min, drone ahead by 8.2 min
8 km: drone 10.9 min, ambulance 26.3 min, drone ahead by 15.4 min

Module lab

Common mistakes

Summary

• A mission request states the question, area, urgency, recipient and deliverable, and closes with confirmation of receipt
• Altitude and time blocks must not overlap in both dimensions at once, and need a buffer
• Risk is written as owned chains of reasoning; use HOLD when key information is unconfirmed
• Drones can deliver AEDs before ambulances in many cases; the advantage depends on distance and dispatch time

Check your understanding

1. Block A is 0–40 min at 0–200 ft and block B is 30–60 min at 150–300 ft. Do they overlap?
2. Using question 1, if B starts at minute 40, do they still overlap?
3. At 6 km, with 2 minutes to dispatch and 15 m/s flight, how many minutes until the drone arrives?
4. What does HOLD mean?
5. Why does sending a file not count as delivery?