Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in locating wandering patients with dementia

Abstract

This paper presents findings from three experiments involving the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for the purpose of locating a wandering person whose behavior resembles the behavior of a wandering patient with dementia. Additionally, it presents research review on the use of UVs in locating wandering eprsons with dementia. The characteristics of this critical form of wandering-or eloping — are discussed. By using test subjects simulating individual lost patients with dementia, along with current Search and Rescue (SAR) operational methods, experiments were performed employing drones to find the wandering persons. The algorithm used to determine the drone paths is based on the analysis of incidents analyzed in the literature from the International Search and Rescue Incident Database (ISRID) which contains thousands of international and national police records on lost persons. The experiments revealed that UAVs, if used with the pre-determined path, could expedite the search process thus improving the survivability of the lost person. The paper considers the time needed to detect the person, duration of the complete mission, the differential longitude and latitude analysis from an Initial Planning Point (IPP), the time taken to find the test subject and the battery life of the drone. Challenges and recommendations are presented to inform future experiments.