SARUAV finds an unconscious 65-year-old alive in tall grass

AI system

System: SARUAV (Search and Rescue with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) human detection software
Model: Not assessed
Release: Exact release not established.
Application developer: SARUAV Ltd. / University of Wrocław (team of Tomasz Niedzielski)
Role: The detector located a person in aerial photographs and returned his coordinates.
Configuration: SARUAV analyzed photographs from DJI Matrice 300 drones.
Inputs and outputs: SARUAV analyzed aerial photographs to locate people.
Autonomy: Not assessed
Workflow: Nadir drone imagery at close range over the search area. CNN detector run during the search, with rescuers able to verify hits and reach the coordinates.
Human oversight: Not assessed
Relation to AI: The CNN detector returned the man's coordinates after police and tracking dogs had failed. Rescuers then retrieved him. Three of the five case-report authors work for SARUAV Ltd., so the independent confirmation is the GOPR Bieszczady account quoted in the Polish press.
AI contribution: The CNN detector returned the man's coordinates after police and tracking dogs had failed. Rescuers then retrieved him. Three of the five case-report authors work for SARUAV Ltd., so the independent confirmation is the GOPR Bieszczady account quoted in the Polish press.

Outcome identifiers: Not assessed
Benefit: After 4 h 31 min of analysis the system detected him and returned his coordinates
Category: Improved Physical Health
Status: Not assessed
Beneficiary groups: People. Organizations.
Beneficiaries: Not assessed
Reach: Not assessed
Distribution and access: Not assessed
Duration: Not assessed
Expected?: Yes
Costs and harms: Not assessed

Studies: Not assessed
Study design: Not assessed
Measurement: Not assessed
Setting and sample: Not assessed
Measures: After 4 h 31 min of analysis the system detected him and returned his coordinates
Comparison: the ground search by police officers and rescuers with tracking dogs, which had failed
Results: Reference: Psy zgubiły trop (the dogs lost the scent); police and rescuers could not find him. Result: Po prawie 24 godzinach od zginięcia program wskazał potencjalnego poszukiwanego (after almost 24 hours the program indicated the probable missing person).
Additional value from AI: Not assessed
Limitations: Not assessed
Denominators: Not assessed
Materials for replication: Not assessed

Participants: Developer: SARUAV Ltd. / University of Wrocław (team of Tomasz Niedzielski). Operator: Bieszczady Mountain Rescue Service (GOPR Bieszczady).
Jurisdictions: Benefit: Cergowa, Poland. Developer: Poland. Operator: Poland.
Ownership and control: Not assessed
Dependencies: Not assessed
Cross-border connections: Not assessed
Geopolitical implications: Not assessed

Conditions for replication: The person is within the imaged area and visible from above. Processing completes while the person can still be helped.
Replication attempts: 1 follow-up entries. Benefit recurred: 1.
Later findings: Not assessed
Availability: Not assessed
Institutional decision: Not assessed
Grounds: Not assessed
Action and result: Not assessed
Success criterion: Not assessed

Assessed benefits: People. Organizations.
Depth: People: 4. Organizations: 2.
Reasons: People: A 65-year-old man with Alzheimer's and a stroke a day earlier lay unconscious in two-meter grass after over 24 hours outdoors. He was found and handed to the ambulance service alive. Organizations: GOPR Bieszczady closed a search that police, dogs and ground teams had not resolved, in what it called the first such find in Poland.
Observed or intended: Not assessed
Rubric: Not assessed
Assessor and date: Not assessed
Alternative assessments: Not assessed
Fill: Independently reported

Kind: Not assessed
Related entries: Not assessed
Field: Search and rescue. Mountain rescue.
Purpose: Built to detect people automatically in drone imagery for search and rescue; this benefit is that purpose.
Dates: Date basis unassessed: 2021 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
Stage: Not assessed
Version: SHA-256: d4256ad892f4…