Empowering Emergency Response with Real-Time Drone Streaming for Rescue Missions

Real-time drone streaming for rescue missions is becoming essential for fast and effective emergency response, and this case study highlights how Ant Media Server enables that transformation. The German Red Cross (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz) is the largest humanitarian organization in Germany, responsible for emergency services, disaster response, and humanitarian operations. Within the organization, the Wasserwacht in District Schwandorf plays a crucial role in water rescue—especially in the popular Oberpfälzer Seenland, where thousands of visitors engage in swimming, sailing, paddle-boarding, and other water sports every year.

With increasing mission complexity and the growing use of drones in search-and-rescue operations, the Wasserwacht needed a reliable, low-latency streaming solution to deliver live aerial visibility to commanders and support units.

This case study explores how Ant Media Server helped them achieve real-time drone streaming, improve coordination, speed up response times, and enhance multi-agency collaboration.

Their mission is to deliver fast, reliable, and life-saving response whenever an emergency occurs in or around the lakes.

The Challenge: Reliable Real-Time Drone Streaming for Rescue Missions

Search-and-rescue (SAR) operations require speed, coordination, and clear visibility. The Wasserwacht team uses three DJI drones to support emergency response by:

• Locating missing persons
• Assessing overturned boats
• Guiding rescue teams in difficult terrain
• Supporting land-based and mountain rescue units

To coordinate these multi-agency missions, mission commanders and backoffice teams must see the drone footage in real time. They tested cloud platforms like DJI FlightHub and AirHub, but subscription costs made them impractical.

They needed:

• A self-hosted solution
• Low latency for real-time decision-making
• Compatibility with RTSP streaming from DJI devices
• Scalability for fire departments and other rescue organizations
• A secure and affordable streaming server

The Solution: Ant Media Server

The team discovered that their DJI controllers could stream via RTSP and began searching for a self-hosted streaming platform. Their tests with Ant Media Server delivered excellent results from the start.

With Ant Media Server, the Wasserwacht is now able to:

• Provide real-time drone streaming for rescue missions
• Share live feeds instantly with command units and backoffice staff
• Improve situational awareness during critical operations
• Easily integrate multiple emergency organizations under one mission control
• Maintain full data ownership with a secure, on-premise solution

The Results: Faster Response and Better Coordination

1. Faster Location of Missing Persons

In their first test mission, the drone quickly located a missing person and guided rescuers directly to the scene—saving critical minutes.

2. Immediate Situational Awareness

Mission commanders viewed the drone’s live feed in real time, enabling quicker decisions and better resource allocation.

3. Best-Ever Training Feedback

During a large exercise at Steinberger See involving a simulated drowning and diving accident, the drone footage was streamed live and recorded for debriefing.
Participants reported this was “the best feedback they ever received from an exercise.”

4. Multi-Agency Collaboration

Fire departments, disaster management teams, and rescue organizations such as Johanniter Unfallhilfe are now considering Ant Media Server as a unified district-wide solution.

⭐ Customer Feedback Spotlight

“Ant Media Server gave us exactly what we needed—an affordable, self-hosted, low-latency streaming solution for our drone operations. During our exercises, commanders and backoffice staff had instant access to live aerial views, dramatically improving coordination. Some participants said it was the best exercise feedback they ever received.”

Industry Use Case — KDDI Smart Drone (Japan)

The Ant Media Server is not only proven in water rescue operations. In a separate project, KDDI Smart Drone deployed Ant Media Server to power real-time drone and IP-camera streaming for inspection, surveillance, and inspection services.

Using Ant Media Server, they achieved video latency below 1 second, supported multiple video protocols, and broadcast streams to multiple locations simultaneously — ensuring stable, low-latency video distribution even across diverse network conditions.
This example shows the flexibility and scalability of Ant Media Server, reinforcing our selection of the platform for rescue operations.

Looking Ahead

Discussions are underway to establish one shared real-time drone streaming platform for the entire Schwandorf district.
Wasserwacht plans to present Ant Media Server to:

• Fire departments
• District disaster management authorities
• Partner rescue organizations

The goal is to improve safety, speed, and coordination across all emergency agencies.