REDWOOD CITY, Calif., - Skydio Inc. has announced two initiatives to support America's first responders with drones and personal protection equipment. The first initiative, the Skydio Emergency Response Program (ERP), will donate dozens of Skydio 2 drones and associated equipment to public safety agencies across the country. Skydio's in-house experts will also provide training and support at no cost to participating agencies. Skydio had planned to release the ERP to assist with disaster relief later this year, but decided to make the program available immediately to meet the needs of public safety agencies facing an unprecedented pandemic.
The ERP has already donated Skydio drones to multiple agencies, and plans to partner with dozens of additional agencies in the weeks ahead. Skydio and its public safety partners are firmly committed to protecting privacy and civil liberties. The Skydio 2 drones donated through the ERP do not carry speakers and cannot be used to issue instructions from the sky and are not intended to be used for any type of quarantine enforcement. Instead, Skydio drones provide immediate tactical support for fire and police professionals, enabling them to safely gain close-up situational awareness using Skydio's unique advanced collision avoidance technology - reducing risk to first responders and rapidly gaining useful information that could save lives. Agencies interested in the program should contact [email protected] to receive additional information and a link to the ERP application.
Skydio also announced that it has facilitated the delivery of more than one million pieces of medical personal protection equipment (PPE) that was sourced and secured by Frontline Support, a nonprofit started and staffed by Silicon Valley based volunteers, to healthcare workers responding to the current COVID-19 crisis. The equipment was delivered to the University of Washington Hospital System, and consists of medical grade masks, gloves, gowns, and face shields, sourced from all over the world. Frontline Support was created with the express purpose of helping source, vet, provide quality assurance for, and distribute personal protective equipment for emergency workers in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.
