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2 Teens Were Rescued By A Drone While Lifeguards Were Still Learning How To Use It

January 18, 2018

A pair of teenagers were rescued by a drone in Australia while lifeguards were still training to use the new device.

The world's first water rescue by drone happened on Thursday at Lennox Head, a seaside village in New South Wales.

A beachgoer spotted the boys struggling in heavy surf about 2,300 feet offshore. Lifeguards instantly sent the drone - called the Little Ripper - to drop an inflatable rescue pod, and the pair made their way safely to shore.

"It took only 70 seconds from when the Little Ripper drone was launched to when it dropped the pod into the ocean for the rescue, a task that would usually take a lifeguard up to six minutes to complete," Ben Franklin, parliamentary secretary for northern New South Wales, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Watch the drone footage below.