Oh, absolutely cheaper than manned aircraft, but they are at present unable to bring in the necessary human-power to do the rescue. Perhaps some day they will be able to fly in and pick up the victim, after the technology has matured considerably.

Imagine, after having accidently pressed your Spot SOS button, to have a very large drone appear and announce that it is going to swoop down and carry you to safety. Scary...LOL.

Banned in U.S. national parks, and for good reasons: http://wilderness.org/blog/national-parks-ban-drones

This ought to be an interesting thread.