Summit explores drone technology | News, Sports, Jobs - Altoona Mirror

May 31, 2024
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis (left) speaks with state Sen. Wayne Langerholc (center), R-Cambria, and Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky (right) ahead of the Aerium Summit’s opening general session Thursday at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. Mirror photo by Matt Churella
JOHNSTOWN — For every minute an automated external defibrillator is delayed, the survival rate of a person in cardiac arrest decreases by 10%, according to Art Martynuska, executive director of the Cambria County Emergency Management Agency.
That’s why getting lifesaving medical supplies from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible matters, he said.
Martynuska, along with Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky, were among those speaking at Aerium Summit’s opening general session Thursday.
Now in its second year, the summit brings more than 350 industry leaders, stakeholders, experts and students together to share ideas, explore innovative opportunities and be immersed in new and existing technology. Students had the opportunity to attend break-out sessions and meet exhibitors to learn about careers in the aviation and aerospace fields.
Chernisky said he met on Wednesday a father and son, who wasn’t sure what career path he wanted to pursue, but learned about Nulton Aviation at the summit and became interested in an aviation career.
“For many years, there were discussions and plans to develop an economy at the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. The Aerium Summit demonstrates that talk turned to action,” Chernisky said prior to introducing Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who was the keynote speaker.
Earlier this month, Davis hosted the first-ever aerospace day at the Capitol, demonstrating his commitment to advancing the state’s aviation and aerospace industries, Chernisky said.
Davis said Aerium is preparing the next generation of pilots to learn, grow and fly by cultivating relationships between students, educational institutions and the aviation and aerospace industries.
“You’re all creating a workforce of the future,” Davis said at the summit, adding the Shapiro-Davis administration is “competitive” with neighboring states like Ohio and West Virginia.
“That’s why we want to support growing industries right here in Pennsylvania, such as aviation and aerospace,” he said. “Industries that contribute billions to our economy, employ thousands of people and provide vital services in our communities.”
During their talk to attendees, Martynuska and Steve Kocsis, Cambria County’s Geographic Information Systems director, presented a simulation showcasing the use of a drone versus an on-the-ground vehicle. The drone got to the designation about 30 seconds faster than the vehicle. While on the surface, that might not appear to be too much of a difference, in a medical emergency, every second matters.
Cambria County now employs drones in certain circumstances, the duo said, and next year they hope to have a system in place that will allow them to fly beyond a visual line of sight to reach people at greater distances.
Currently, emergency service personnel are able to use the drones to deliver lifesaving medical supplies to the scene faster than emergency response teams but have to be within a three-mile radius of where the emergency occurred to deploy the drones, county officials said.
Martynuska and Kocsis said drones are able to avoid unexpected delays, such as road closures, and can get to the scene in nearly half the amount of time that an ambulance or fire truck can. Kocsis said the drones can fly up to 400 feet in the air at a rate of 35 miles per hour on a direct flight to the scene.
Earlier this year, the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission was awarded a nearly $2 million grant for the multimodal mobility project. The funding was awarded as a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation Grants Program.
When the new grant-funded system is put in place, which Martynuska said won’t be until sometime next year, emergency response teams will be able to deliver automated external defibrillators, Narcan and other blood products with the drones beyond a visual line of sight.
At least two people — a pilot and a visual observer — now are required to operate a single drone.
Martynuska said drones can only be flown by a pilot as far as they can be seen by an observer up to and including a limit of three miles.
That means if a drone is to be used to deliver supplies, currently an emergency response team has to drive within a three-mile radius of the caller’s location before deploying the drone.
“This (new system) will allow us to fly beyond a visual line of sight to deliver aid to people that we can’t see,” Martynuska said.
Although he acknowledged the possibility of flying the drones remotely from the Cambria County 911 Center in Ebensburg in the future, Martynuska said details about where the drones will be dispatched from “have yet to be determined.”
“We would have to have the staff and the software in place to do that, but the technology is there now for us to do that,” he said. “We haven’t decided where we’re going to dispatch them yet.”
State Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, said the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport could also serve as a deployment and testing area for the drones.
“The sky is the limit here,” Langerholc said. “This can be a multibillion dollar industry for our region that will not only help our residents and save lives but also employ individuals in family-sustaining jobs.”
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.
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