Development of the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Emergency Rescue in China

With the frequent occurrence of various disaster events, China has attached high importance to emergency rescue in recent years. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming more extensively used in emergency rescue, thanks to their flexibility, intellectuality, and safety in operation. It is therefore timely to evaluate UAV utilization in emergency rescue and explore the impediments to its further development in China. To date, UAVs have been mainly used for on-site monitoring and commanding, relay of communications, delivery of materials, disaster assessment, and life detection. Aerial emergency rescue is a vital component of the whole emergency rescue system in China. In the future, it is recommended that China take measures to boost UAV technical innovation and professional team development and promote the integrated application of manned aircraft and UAVs.