![]() ![]() Schroeder said the hurricane had spurred innovation in disaster relief and healthcare resiliency. “As drone technology and systems for managing them improve, we expect them to save lives in places where disasters have cut off access to critically needed healthcare,” Schroeder said.Īlthough the Hurricane Maria death toll is estimated by the Puerto Rican Government at almost 3000, the vast majority of these deaths were not caused directly by the storm, but by subsequent disruptions to vital infrastructure and services, such as access to healthcare and treatment for chronic diseases. Researchers evaluating the pilot project estimated that it could save up to $21 billion annually when used in the overall economy, meaning not just healthcare.Īnd in June of 2017, drones beat emergency responders to heart attack victims by as much as 17 minutes in a small test conducted in Sweden.Īndrew Schroeder, director of research and analysis at humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief, which is part of the collaboration using drones in Puerto Rico, said they need to get medicine to remote locations that are otherwise reachable only by helicopter. National Health Service has been flying drones carrying blood and medical results between London hospitals. Military on a drone and headset augmented reality combination that enables experienced physicians to remotely instruct junior doctors working in the field. Just this week, in fact, Purdue University researchers said they are working with the U.S. Trials involved drones flying over both land and sea, beyond line of sight, in challenging terrain, delivering medicines to remote mountain villages that were cut off from electricity and road access for months after Hurricane Maria, some of them for a time accessible only by helicopter.ĭrones have also been tested for healthcare purposes in other parts of the world. The proof-of-concept trial deployed temperature-controlled cargo containers for transporting vaccines, as well as non-refrigerated cargo such as asthma and hypertension medicines. In the most recent move, drones have been successfully tested for delivering emergency medical supplies to remote areas of Puerto Rico still feeling the effects of last year’s devastating Hurricane Maria. Matternet will also be helping support a citywide drone network in Abu Dhabi for their Department of Health.Drones are among the most cutting-edge innovations that healthcare organizations of various types are currently evaluating, running proofs-of-concept with or pilot testing around the globe. Lab Results and PPE: North Carolina is a hot spot for drone delivery aside from COVID vaccines, WakeMed is working with UPS and Matternet to transport patient samples between collection points and the main lab, reducing the time to results by hours in some cases.They estimate this centralized hub and spoke model improved productivity of their pharmacy by as much as 30%. Stateside, UPS Flight Forward has been working in North Carolina with the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist system to centralize and distribute their COVID vaccine supply. Zipline, in partnership with several other public health giants like GAVI and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have been using drones in Ghana to deliver vaccines, blood, COVID testing samples and other critical supplies on-demand to hospitals that normally would be hard to reach or, in the case of vaccines, not have adequate storage. Cold Chain for Vaccines: Vaccines often need to be transported at stable, very cold, temperatures – which can prove difficult in regions with limited healthcare infrastructure.The flavors are slightly different – the CVS and Magellan partnerships are working on prescription medication deliveries while Walgreens currently is focused on over-the-counter products – but the message is the same: create access that is safe, convenient and fast. ![]() CVS (UPS Flight Forward), Walgreens (Wing) and Magellan Health (Zipline) all have partnerships aimed at bringing healthcare goods directly to consumers. Direct to Consumer Delivery: It seems the cool kids are all ready to get in on drone flight. ![]()
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