Video: Drone Helps Okla. Police Find, Rescue Man Struck by Train

Oklahoma police and other first responders deployed a drone late last month to help save a man who had been struck by a train.

The rescue happened March 26 when a train conductor in Oklahoma City called 9-1-1 thought he had hit something but couldn't see anything from his vantage point, KFOR-TV reports. Following the call, a drone was sent to scout the area of the suspected crash as part of the Drone as First Responder (DFR) program with the Oklahoma City police and fire departments.

As part of the program, Skydio drones can be deployed from rooftop docks quickly and flown to spots that responders might not be able to reach. In the case of the train crash, Oklahoma City police found the man "in a very inaccessible spot" that "would've taken a considerable amount of time to locate … by normal means" and get a quick assessment of the person's condition, Sgt. Dax Laporte told KOKH-TV.

 "You could see definitively very critical injuries from the drone," he said. "We were able to report that to police officers that were responding. We were able to report that to fire engines that were responding."

Although the man suffered life-threatening injuries from being struck, medics were able to reach him in time, and he survived. Noreen Charlton, who handles public safety strategy for Skydio, told KOKH that last month's rescue's illustrates how drones-as-first responders can be literal lifesavers and could be used in foiling crimes in progress or locating missing people.

“(Drones" are providing situational awareness (first responders) need to make better tactical decisions, more effective resource allocation and to have better outcomes in the incidents they respond to,” she said.