Drone Team Profile

Forging Collaborative Excellence: Uniting Northcentral Pennsylvania's Premier UAS Organizations to Deliver Unmatched Drone and Unmanned Services.

Duboistown Fire and EMS

My name is Paul Vavra. I am a Firefighter/ EMT and UAS Pilot at Duboistown Fire and EMS. Our department is a combination paid/volunteer department in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Our UAS program began in 2016 with a strategic plan that would be implented in 2017. We eventually purchased a brand new drone with a thermal imaging camera. In addition to having one FAA certificated Part 107 pilot we obtained a Certificate of Authorization for Lycoming, Tioga, and Sullivan counties. My fire department was the first and only with a drone program in all of Lycoming, Tioga, and Sullivan counties. We formed relationships with local Fire, Rescue, EMS, and law enforcement. Our second pilot, Joe Hope was the Chief of Police in Old Lycoming Township at the time. He is also a county detective, and life member at the

Old Lycoming Township Volunteer Fire Company where he is currently Deputy Fire Chief. Soon other departments recognized the value of having a drone program. Laporte Vol FD in Sullivan County and NCPA Unmanned Emergency Services in Tioga County started programs which helped eliminate the need for us to have a Certificate of Authorization for Tioga and Sullivan counties. We decided to be proactive and meet with them to form a working group to share ideas and also be available as a resource to support each other if need be. We have been fortunate to receive support from them and other organizations including the National Public Safety Drone Donation Program, Skydio, Pennsylvania Charitable Giving, and the Lycoming County District Attorney. In 2019 we received additional training from Sundance Media Group and in 2020 Wake Forest Fire Department. We were named one of three departments in August 2020 to receive the DRONERESPONDERS Outstanding Public Safety Drone Program award. We also have contributed to the AVUSI Xcellence award winning Best Practices Report from IEDO. In 2022 we donated our Yuneec H520 drone to New Berlin FD. New Berlin is located in Union County, Pennsylvania. Our department as a result of that donation received an award from the National Public Safety Drone Donation Program. The original members of the working group met and welcomed New Berlin FD as our latest member. In the meantime we decided to purchase a ROV or underwater drone. It is the only one based out of our response area in Lycoming County. Our working group was also renamed Northcentral PA R.O.V.E.R. (Remote Operated Vehicle Emergency Response) and has meetings every other month here at Duboistown Fire and EMS.