Drone saves lives: thermal image saves man in the forest from cold death

Created: 01/25/2022, 17:00

By: Raphael Scherer

Thanks to a drone, a missing man was found in the forest (symbol image).

© dpa

Police used a drone to save a man from freezing.

The obviously confused man had previously run into a wooded area, only lightly dressed.

Vaterstetten – With search dogs and a drone, the police saved a man from freezing in the forest.

As reported by the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria North, the driver of a gritting vehicle noticed a lightly dressed pedestrian on a street on the outskirts of Vaterstetten last Saturday evening.

The driver unsuccessfully spoke to the obviously confused man and then called the police.

But by the time officers arrived, the caller had already lost sight of the 71-year-old.

The only thing that was certain was that he had run into the nearby forest.

As it turned out, the man "was missing from a hospital and needed help," according to the police.

Because helicopters were not allowed to fly in this weather: the police are looking for missing persons with a drone

Together with the fire brigade and search dogs, the emergency services combed the forest to save the man from freezing.

They also used a drone with a thermal imaging camera to do this, since helicopters were temporarily not an option for the emergency services due to the weather.

After a 20-minute drone flight, the officials finally managed to locate the missing person lying between trees in the snow around 9 p.m. and to guide the rescue workers to him.

The severely hypothermic man received medical treatment on site and was then taken back to the hospital.

You can read more news from the Ebersberg region here.

By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.