###### Abstract  
Worldwide, there is a significant increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by emergency services. They offer a lot of possibilities during rescue operations. Such a wide application for various purposes and environments causes many threats related to their use. To minimize the risks associated with conducting air operations with UAVs, the application of the SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment) methodology will be important. Due to its level of detail, it is a methodology adapted to civilian use. In this article, the authors' team will try to develop guidelines and directions for adapting SORA to the requirements of the operational work of emergency services. Thus, the following article aims to present the most important risks related to conducting operations with the use of UAVs by first responders (FRs), and to show the sample risk analysis performed for this type of operation on the example of the ASSISTANCE project. The paper describes, on the one hand, possibilities offered by UAVs in crisis or disaster management and step-by-step Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA), and on the other hand, presents possible threats, consequences and methods of their mitigation during FR missions. U 100 2021 11 5364. 11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11.  
flying ad-hoc network [16, 17], or as cargo delivery and humanitarian aid [18]. Nevertheless, there are only a few studies about the risk assessment of UAS flights performed by first responders (FR), fire brigades, emergency services during fires, local events, and disasters [19, 20, 21]. Similarly, there have been and still are many research projects regarding the use of automated vehicles in search and rescue operations, their integration with the ground and underwater vehicles, and other systems and sensors (RESPONDRONE [22], RESPOND-A [23], FASTER [24], CURSOR [25], Search and Rescue [26], INGENIOUS [27], DRIVER+ [28], CLOSE SEARCH [29], ICARUS [30], DARIUS [19]). Almost none of them focus on risk assessment for UAS operations. In the RESPONDRONE project, the Holistic Risk Model was proposed to evaluate the inherent risk of operations in crisis scenarios involving both FRs and UASs [20]. The risk model takes into account risks stemming from the ground as well as the air and includes risks affecting both the ground and the air. It should be noted that risks associated with flights performed by first responders are other than those in civil flights. In the case of emergencies, for instance, wildfire, flood, collapsing buildings, or leakage, they generate specific risks [31] that pilot must take into account and which affect flight safety, as well as the requirement to use appropriate mitigations. The case of the ASSISTANCE project [32] emphasizes the need to help and protect different kinds of FR organizations that work together during the mitigation of large disasters (natural or man-made) and to enhance their capabilities and skills for facing complex situations related to different types of incidents. This naturally determines the need to assess the risk of specialized flights to support FR in their work and--at the same time--increase the effectiveness of rescue operations while ensuring the maximum level of safety of rescuers, bystanders, infrastructure and property, and other airspace users. There are many different risk assessment tools and techniques. The IEC/ISO 31010: 2019 standard lists 41 of them [33]. There are also related standards for risk management processes in civil protection and crisis management [34, 35, 36, 37, 38]. To this number should be added various related methods and techniques from the aviation industry; for example [39, 40], the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), Generic Error Modelling System (GEMS), Pre-Defined Risk Assessments (PDRA), External Events Analysis (EEA), and last but not least--Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA).