Air Rescue Channel Islands is staffed entirely by volunteers and in February 2024 we launched our Emergency Drone Team in Jersey which will provide the Island's emergency services with a trained drone pilot, duty officer and a range of specialist equipment 24/7. The drone team will work closely with others agencies such as our Lifeboat colleagues where the specialist cameras, lighting, speakers and other technology from the drone can greatly enhance the collaborative search and rescue operation. The service is available to the emergency services in Guernsey on an ad hoc basis should there be a significant incident and until such time as we replicate the operation here in Jersey on a formal and permanent basis in Guernsey.

Our specialist drones range in scale and specifications to assist in emergency operations. The range of features that can be delivered by the fleet include the ability to fly in inclement weather, thermal imaging, extensive optical zoom (200x), speakers with live audio link, unlimited flight time (days / weeks), live streaming to control rooms on island, (and off island if necessary) and rapid 3d mapping.

Our team of pilots have to maintain a minimum level of flight hours and our aim is to use some of this training time to assist good causes and projects where one of our training drones can be of benefit, e.g. mapping seagrass, remote viewing of bird nesting sites.