San Bernardino County Fire considering new high-tech emergency response aircraft
Pivotal's eVTOL, which stands for electrical vertical take-off and landing, is an ultralight, all-electric aircraft that can soar above the ground at up to 60 miles per hour. It doesn't require a pilot's license and would allow paramedics to vastly speed up their emergency response times, especially in the county's more remote or mountainous areas.
"Our thought was, if possible, we could put our paramedic in there with some life-saving gear," said SBCoFD Captain Shawn Millerick. "This actual aircraft can land in water and take off out of water, so theoretically, if someone's in the middle of a lake, we have fire boats that can get to them, but that takes time. This would be quicker."
Pivotal says that they've been perfecting the aircraft for over a decade, which they typically have marketed for recreation. Now, they're expanding into the defense space and emergency services.
"There are a lot of specific opportunities where this is the best choice," said Pivotal CEO Ken Karklin. "Say traffic on the 10 is at a standstill and there is a cardiac arrest or stroke, trauma, gunshots ... the sooner you can get a skilled paramedic on the ground, the faster you're gonna be able to perform triage and save lives."
The single-person aircraft is currently being sold for around $250,000, which is a fraction of the cost of a helicopter. It's something that department officials are considering, especially Millerick, after he got a chance to use the flight simulator.
"One thing that come up in conversation was, would this thing be capable of dropping retardant? ... Instead of a person inside of it, could it be retardant or water," Millerick said. "Considering our department's about 20,000-square-miles, with numerous types of complicated terrain, that could possibly be a device we use."
San Bernardino County Fire is already one of the state's most tech-forward departments, actively using drones to respond to emergencies and determine the scale before actual crews can arrive.
"We're really excited to have the possibility of working with them," said Karklin.
There's no timetable as to when the department will make a decision on whether they begin implementing the aircrafts into their fleet, but Karklin says that full-scale production is anticipated to begin in December.
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