SafeSky EnterpriseTrøndelag Fire & Rescue: Coordinating Drones with Emergency Helicopters
How Trøndelag's regional drone team made their DJI drones visible to HEMS and SAR helicopters across 40 municipalities in Central Norway, using SafeSky and the Dronetag Mini
What you need to know
- Emergency drones operated across 40 municipalities in Central Norway were not visible to helicopter crews
- The fire emergency dispatch centre in Midt-Norge needed a way to coordinate drone positions with helicopters during live missions
- With SafeSky and the Dronetag Mini, these drones are now visible in the systems used by emergency helicopter crews
- The setup is simple, operational, and compatible with future autonomous deployments
About Trøndelag Fire & Rescue
The fire emergency dispatch centre in Midt-Norge (Central Norway) coordinates fire and rescue services across all 40 municipalities in the Trøndelag region. As part of a regional drone preparedness programme, a shared fleet of DJI drones is operated by a team of 10 certified pilots who can be deployed for emergency missions anywhere in the region.
These drones support a broad range of emergency operations — search and rescue, wildfire surveillance, flood monitoring, and more — often flying in the same areas as Norwegian Air Ambulance and Royal Norwegian Air Force SAR helicopters.
Region:
Trøndelag, Central Norway — 40 municipalities, 10 certified drone pilots
Challenge:
DJI emergency drones were not visible to helicopter crews in the same airspace, creating coordination difficulties and safety risks during high-stakes missions
The Challenge
Sverre Hogstad, Chief Pilot for the Trøndelag region, described the issue clearly:
"A key priority for us is airspace safety. We often operate in parallel with manned aircraft, including Norwegian Air Ambulance and the Royal Norwegian Air Force's SAR helicopters. This makes it essential that our drones are visible in the same systems used by helicopter crews."
— Sverre Hogstad, Chief Pilot, Trøndelag region
Helicopters Could Not See Drones
Norwegian Air Ambulance and Royal Norwegian Air Force SAR helicopters had no way to electronically detect DJI drones operating in the same airspace during emergency missions
Safety Risks During Live Missions
The absence of shared situational awareness introduced real safety risks, particularly during simultaneous high-stakes emergency operations where drones and helicopters share the same low-level airspace
Wide Geographic Coverage
Drones are deployed across all 40 municipalities in the Trøndelag region, covering diverse terrain where co-ordination across a wide area is essential
Operational from Day One
Any solution needed to be immediately deployable with existing DJI equipment — the team could not wait for custom hardware or lengthy integration programmes
The Solution: Dronetag Mini + SafeSky
The turning point came when SafeSky became compatible with the Dronetag Mini. This small, affordable device attaches directly to a DJI drone and begins broadcasting the drone's position via two channels simultaneously:
Remote ID Compliance
The Dronetag Mini broadcasts via Remote ID, satisfying European regulatory requirements for drone identification during operations.
SafeSky Network Visibility
Simultaneously, the drone's position is fed into the SafeSky network. This makes it visible to any pilot using a SafeSky-compatible application — including the tools already in use by emergency helicopter crews.
Automatic Activation on Takeoff
A USB cable connects the Dronetag Mini to the drone, enabling automatic activation at takeoff. No manual steps are required — pilots do not need to change their procedures.
Compatible with the Tools Helicopter Crews Already Use
A critical aspect of the solution is that helicopter crews do not need to change their workflows. Once the Trøndelag drones are transmitting into the SafeSky network, they appear automatically in the applications already installed in cockpits across Norway:
HemsWX
Used by HEMS helicopter crews for situational awareness — drone positions now appear directly within this existing tool
Air Navigation Pro
Widely used by professional aviation including SAR helicopter crews — already displays SafeSky traffic data including Trøndelag drones
SafeSky App
The SafeSky mobile app used by general aviation pilots, paragliders, paramotors, and ultralights also displays Trøndelag drones — extending visibility across 30+ compatible systems
Bi-directional Awareness
It works in both directions. Whilst helicopter crews can now see Trøndelag drones, the drone pilots also receive real-time traffic data from the SafeSky network — seeing the positions of helicopters, general aviation, and other aircraft operating nearby.
SafeSky has been on our radar for some time, and it finally offered the solution we were looking for. Thanks to SafeSky's integration into HemsWX and Air Navigation Pro, our drones are now visible in the tools used by emergency helicopters.
Sverre Hogstad
Chief Pilot, Trøndelag region
Results
The Dronetag Mini and SafeSky combination provided Trøndelag's team with a practical, affordable path to shared airspace awareness without disrupting existing workflows on either side:
Drones Visible to Helicopter Crews
Emergency drone positions now appear in HemsWX and Air Navigation Pro, the tools already used by HEMS and SAR helicopter crews across Norway
Mutual Situational Awareness
Drone pilots can see nearby manned aircraft via the SafeSky network. Both sides of the airspace interaction now have substantially improved situational awareness
Key Outcomes:
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