A Texas drone-safety group is teaming up with the Airborne Incident Response Team to respond more effectively to emergencies.

The non-profit Public Safety Unmanned Response Team North Texas signed the agreement of cooperation with AIRT this past week. AIRT is the non-profit parent of DRONERESPONDERS, a group billed as “the world’s fastest growing non-profit program supporting public safety UAS.”

PSURTNTX and AIRT will develop emergency preparedness, response and resilience plans in cooperation with other partner organizations.

“The objective is to create a robust network of drone responders and geographic information systems experts capable of rendering direct assistance and location intelligence during complex emergencies, rapidly expanding incidents and major disasters,” an AIRT statement notes.

“Increased communication and cooperation are essential to the successful deployment of drones and other unmanned systems in support of public safety operations,” said Travis Calendine, chairperson of the PSURTNTX.

“Our partnership with AIRT and the DRONERESPONDERS program will help bolster our capability to serve the North Texas region and beyond during times of significant emergencies and disasters.”

“It’s really about pushing out well beyond our respective comfort zones to make sure we are embracing the latest tools and technology in the unmanned systems space,” says Charles Werner, director of DRONERESPONDERS.  “This collaborative effort will help advance the public safety UAS sector in support of the whole community.”

“Very few organizations have the experience and credibility of PSURTNTX in conducting public safety UAS operations,” Christopher Todd, executive director of AIRT, said.  “We look forward to building this new relationship as we look toward another season of potentially deadly tornados, floods, hurricanes, and other disasters.”

Last month, DRONERESPONDERS announced a partnership between APD Humanitario and AIRT to launch a Spanish-language initiative in Colombia.

In November,  DRONERESPONDERS unveiled a partnership with the National Press Photographers Association. The collaboration will promote safety guidelines between members of the media and first responders.

AIRT has also announced the inaugural Global Public Safety UAS Summit and Major Cities Meeting  to be held at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International XPONENTIAL 2020.