Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or “drones”) and Body Worn Video (BWV) will be key talking points at this year’s free-to-attend Emergency Services Show, which takes place the NEC in Birmingham on 23 and 24 September.

Very much under the media spotlight this summer, UAVs can offer incredible benefits to the response, rescue and resilience sector. This emerging technology will be discussed in detail in the free-to-attend seminar sessions. In the Innovation Theatre on 23 September delegates can hear from West Midlands Fire Service, which has over 10 years’ experience of using UAVs in partnership with other category one services. On 24 September Justin Pringle, a drone developer with Drone Ops will give an overview of the benefits UAVs can offer the emergency services, particularly in managing ground crew risk.

Meanwhile in the exhibition (also free to attend) visitors can find out about the UAV training courses offered by Sky-Futures who can train remote pilots to fly safely and procedurally using best practice from manned aviation and its 8,500 hours of operational drone flying experience. In collaboration with the Fire Service College it has produced structured, CAA approved courses for the police, fire and rescue service, ambulance service, USAR and other emergency organisations. On the Excelerate stand visitors can learn more about the benefits of UAVs for achieving 360-degree aerial views at incidents and video streaming to required locations. They can also see demonstrations of Excelerate’s automatic pole-climbing camera and communications system providing a rapid CCTV surveillance and data relay system. Primetech meanwhile will launch new MultiNet Comms portable, battery-powered communications system, which incorporates UAVs for live-streamed aerial imagery gathering.

Visitors with an interest in air surveillance should also pay a visit to the UK Civil Air Patrol stand in the Emergency Response Zone to find out how this voluntary organisation can support the blue light emergency services and local government civil contingencies with affordable air observation and air to ground photography.

Around the exhibition visitors can find out about the latest developments in surveillance and recording technology. Edesix, Excelerate Technology, Handheld UK, Niton 999 Group, Pinnacle Response, Reveal and WCCTV are among the leading names who have all booked stands.

The benefits of Body Worn Video (BWV) will feature prominently on both the exhibition stands and in the Innovation Seminar Theatre. Reveal body cameras for example are already being used by 30 of the 42 police forces up and down the country. They record high quality audio and video which gives officers an immediate and exact record of anything they are dealing with. Additionally, unique features such as the front-facing screen display footage in real time, which can have positive effects on the behaviour and conduct of subjects when they are being recorded. Experts speaking on the topic include Ben Clark, Inspector, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) who will present on both 23 and 24 September, giving an overview of the MPS BWV Project. On 23 September West Midlands Fire & Rescue Service will also share their experience of BWV. Its Research & Development team has tested a wide range of BWV products and assessed its potential for improving operational planning, response, debrief, and training for interoperability and cross service data sharing.

The NEC is linked to Birmingham International Station and Birmingham Airport and is directly accessible from the UK motorway network. Parking for visitors and exhibitors is free of charge.

To register for free entry visit www.emergencyuk.com

Photo captions.
Sky-Futures (exhibiting on stand B22) offers UAV training courses
Reveal (exhibiting on stand Q37) makes Body Worn Video systems