Flying Vehicles for First Responders Head to Texas

A California eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle maker is partnering for a trial deployment of its emergency response flying vehicle in Texas.

Jump Aero and the Calhoun County Emergency Management Service in Texas agreed to work together to deploy Jump Aero’s JA1 first responder vehicle to the rural communities there.

“The county spans barrier islands with poor road access, is in a geographic area susceptible to disaster incidents and includes many remote and rural communities,” the county stated in the announcement. 

“In many areas within the county, ambulance arrivals can be well beyond what is considered necessary to support positive outcomes. By enabling skilled first responders to fly directly to the scene of the emergency, Jump Aero's Pulse can help save lives of Calhoun County residents and visitors.”

Last year, Jump Aero received $3.6 million in contracts from the U.S. Air Force to accelerate the company’s technology development. Part of the funding is targeted to fund the first full-scale prototype.

The military backing comes from the Air Force Research Laboratory, the primary scientific research and development center for the U.S. Air Force. The company promises a speed of up to 285 mph.

The first orders for the JA1 Pulse EAV came from Falck Ambulance Service, a global first-response business with operations in 26 countries.

Related:Flying Vehicle Sold As Air Ambulance; Backed by US Air Force

For the Texas venture, the Jump Aero and Calhoun County plan to identify potential funding opportunities through grants and federal programs.

"We are excited to find such a great partner for our demo operations,” said Jump Aero president and CEO Carl Dietrich. “The data we gather from initial deployment will drive our long-term operations and will provide crucial lessons learned to bring us that much closer to saving lives of rural Americans."

Jump Aero and the Oregon Department of Aviation last year signed a deal to determine how to bring Jump Aero’s JA1 to the rural population there.

This is not the first U.S. agreement for the first responder electric aerial vehicle (EAV).

Jump Aero and the Utah Department of Transportation previously agreed to create full state coverage using Jump Aero's flight-based first responder operations.

Utah is looking to determine how many Jump JA-1 Pulse EAVs they would need to provide life-saving response times throughout the state.

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A venture firm in Australia also has ordered 10 of the Jump Aero eVTOLs to provide rural emergency medical response to people in remote rural areas in Australia.

Related:Flying Vehicles for Medical First Responders Sought in Oregon

Electro Ventures, an entrepreneur-led venture holdings company focused on sustainable innovation, has already been working with Jump Aero through Electro Aero, one of the venture firm’s companies.

As part of the deal, the venture firm intends to represent Jump Aero throughout the Asia Pacific region.

EAVs are being considered for numerous first responder services. For example, Volocopter, a Germany-based flying vehicle company, partnered with Bristow Group in Houston, Texas, to build urban air mobility ecosystems, including using the flying vehicles for search and rescue.