A lifeguard-controlled drone scours for sharks at Seal Beach in Southern California. In Germany, a drone brings a defibrillator to a man on a golf course having a heart attack. And during the floods in Texas this year, drones served up flotation devices to stranded people.
While the Federal Aviation Administration mulls over its drone regulations, which are scheduled to be released next spring, the remote-controlled devices are already being used around the world to keep us safe. In times of crisis, a drone is often the cheapest and most efficient tool to find a missing person, help monitor a criminal on the run, or survey a disaster scene.