WHEELING — The Ohio County Emergency Management Agency has a new water rescue tool in its arsenal thanks to the donation of an underwater-capable drone from WVU Medicine Wheeling and Reynolds Memorial hospitals.

The piece of equipment will be used in water search and rescue operations across the region by Ohio County Safety and Emergency Management teams.

Ohio County EMA Director Lou Vargo said the drone had always been on the agency’s wish list. When Wheeling Hospital reached out to the Ohio County EMA to help after the Saturday, June 14, flash flooding, Vargo informed them the underwater drone was a piece of equipment they needed.

“The underwater drone is something that we didn’t have, but we will use in any type of flooding event, drowning or evidence collection,” Vargo said. “The drone would help, not only for flooding like in June, but for drownings in creeks or ponds.”

The $4,000 Fifish Underwater Drone is equipped with a robotic arm and a 4K camera. The tethered drone can dive to a depth of up to 330 feet underwater using a cable. The paramedic piloting the drone can see its video feed while they control the equipment.

Vargo said the drone will enhance the “safety factor” of underwater operations for firefighters and swift-water rescue units. Safety and Emergency Management teams typically use side-scan sonar from a fire or police to detect objects underwater. The drone will now allow emergency services to confirm what they see on the sonar before sending divers in.

“The drone can confirm the images that we see on the side-scan sonar before we send a diver or swift water person there,” Vargo said. “The drone could also confirm for us that, ‘No, that’s just some debris,’ and that helps the incident commander running the swift water or dive team decide whether to send divers.”

The drone could also prevent divers from having to be sent in for evidence collection due to its robotic arm.

“It could be something like the police department saying, ‘Hey, there’s a chance there might be a gun or knife in a submerged vehicle down there,'” Vargo said. “Instead of sending a diver down there, we can send a drone in. If we see a knife or a gun, this drone has an arm on it that can grab it and bring it back to the surface.”

Vargo said the drone could have assisted in the searches for missing people during the June flooding. The drone would have played a role in distinguishing the people they were looking for from the debris.

“To me, this drone is just one more step that increases the safety factor for our firefighters and our swift water people,” Vargo said. “This is just going to be another tool in our toolbox.”

The drone will also be available to counties on both sides of the river. Vargo said the equipment could be employed at the request of other EMA directors in instances such as a drowning in a pond or flooding.

Vargo, Ohio County EMA Deputy Director Tony Campbell and Ohio County paramedics who will pilot the drone gathered at Wheeling Hospital Wednesday morning to receive it from WVU Medicine leadership. WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital Director of Operations Chris Mercer noted that the drone would be the first of its kind in the region.

“We work very closely with our emergency management as well as our first responders, and we want to make sure they have all the equipment they need, so we’re very happy to make this donation,” Mercer said. “For the past couple of weeks, with all this flooding, this will be a great tool to have, so we want to make sure they have all the tools they need.”

John Sebring, safety and emergency management director for WVU Medicine Wheeling and Reynolds Memorial hospitals, said the drone would also allow the hospitals to support public safety faster after an emergency.

“We worked closely with our first responders involved in search and rescue and treatment of victims during the recent flood,” Sebring said. “From that, we learned that the drone was needed to find pieces of equipment. This drone is a new piece of technology that will allow public safety operations to be more efficient when it comes to search and rescue, as well as identifying loss of property and life.”