State Police Drone Unit Join Catskills Hatzalah for Training Exercise

As previously reported, Catskills Hatzalah launched a drone division this year, purchasing two advanced drones with infrared capabilities. These drones, offer a tremendous advancement in the search for lost or missing persons. And they’ve now done a joint training with the New York State Police Drone Unit.

The State Police Troop F UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Unit joined Catskills Hatzalah where the two teams met and became familiar with each other’s programs to better work together in case of any future incidents H”y.

Hatzalah learned of suggestions for deconfliction of airspace, communication requirements and NYSP policies and procedures when working with manned aviation (helicopters) at emergency scenes, the New York State Police said.

The Catskills Hatzalah drone team is comprised dedicated Hatzalah volunteers who are certified by the FAA as Unmanned Aircraft System (Drone) Pilots. The team has been participating in additional extensive search and rescue and drone operations training.