Photo credit: WHO13
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A drone became the difference between panic and precision in Story County, Iowa, after an elderly man fell into a ravine near the Greenbelt Trail south of Story City, as WHO13 reports.
The man called 911 over the weekend, reporting that he had fallen, believed he had broken ribs, and could not stand. He was alone, injured, and stuck below trail level in winter conditions. That combination can turn dangerous fast.
Deputies from the Story County Sheriff’s Office responded and deployed a DJI thermal drone to search the area. From above, the aircraft located the man and relayed precise GPS coordinates to Story City First Responders and Mary Greeley Medical Center paramedics.
With that aerial guidance, rescuers were able to reach him efficiently, pull him out of the ravine, treat him at the scene, and transport him to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.
In scenarios like this, minutes matter. A drone turns a wide search area into a pinpoint on a map.
Inside the Story County UAS Team
The rescue was carried out with support from the Story County Sheriff’s Office Unmanned Aircraft Systems Team, which operates under the agency’s Support Services Division.
The unit includes full time personnel and volunteers who hold current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot licenses, providing 24 hour on call coverage for Story County and surrounding communities through mutual aid.
Their fleet includes more than a dozen unmanned aircraft and an underwater remotely operated vehicle. These tools are used for operational overwatch, disaster response, fugitive apprehension, fire support with thermal imaging, search and rescue, and critical incident response.
Each team member completes nearly 100 hours of annual in service training. That includes search and rescue tactics, unmanned aircraft case law, airspace familiarization, and FAA recurrent certification requirements. Combined with real world callouts throughout the year, the result is a unit that stays current, legal, and operationally sharp.
This is not hobby flying. It is structured public safety aviation.
DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced in Action
Photos from the Sheriff’s Office website show the team operating DJI platforms, specifically the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced equipped with a thermal camera.
Photo credit: Story County Sheriff’s Office Unmanned Aircraft Systems Team
In winter rescues, thermal imaging becomes a quiet superpower. Against cold ground and snow, a human heat signature stands out like a lantern in the dark.
Photo credit: WHO13
Instead of scanning brush and terrain with the naked eye, pilots can identify a person’s body heat from above, even when visibility is limited.
Photo credit: WHO13
For an injured man lying in a ravine, possibly unable to shout or move, that capability can dramatically shorten search time. In rural areas with uneven terrain, drones like the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced give deputies a fast launch option without waiting for manned aircraft support.
The aircraft is compact, quick to deploy, and purpose built for public safety missions, combining visual and thermal sensors in a portable package that fits in the back of a patrol vehicle.
DroneXL’s Take
This rescue is another reminder that drones in public safety are no longer experimental tools. They are first responders.
A fall into a ravine used to mean boots on the ground, grid searches, and precious time ticking away. Now it can mean a drone in the air within minutes, thermal camera scanning, coordinates transmitted, and responders guided straight to the victim.
For agencies operating DJI platforms like the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, the return on investment is not measured in flight hours. It is measured in lives located faster and rescues completed safer.
In Story County, that equation worked exactly as intended.
Photo credit: Story County Sheriff’s Office Unmanned Aircraft Systems Team, WHO13