National Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development

National Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development

ISSN: 2455-9040; Impact Factor: RJIF 5.22
Received: 06-04-2019; Accepted: 07-05-2019
www.nationaljournals.com
Volume 4; Issue 3; July 2019; Page No. 08-10

Drone “A sky ambulance”: The future of medicine and safe road to health

Beulah Jasmine Rao

Assistant Professor, School of Nursing Science and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract
Time is crucial in healing, no matter whether it’s about a natural disaster, heart attack or an organ transplant. In future medical
emergencies, where urgent response will be necessary, drones will mean the fastest answer. They will fly the extra mile in
delivering drugs, vaccines, blood or organs.

Keywords: UNICEF, detonate, telemedicine, postpartum hemorrhage

Introduction Drones eagerly respond to disasters

Growing Acceptance: While drones have only recently One of the earliest medical utilization of these unmanned
been more widely accepted in the medical community, they aerial vehicles was in catastrophes. Various drones
were previously used to deliver small aid packages successfully delivered small aid packages after the Haitian
following the Haitian earthquake in 2012. earthquake in 2012. They were also able to help in
Doctors without Borders also used them to transport TB test humanitarian operations for collecting data and imagery
samples from a remote village in Papua New Guinea. where infrastructure was destroyed or already lacking;
Furthermore, drones have successfully delivered condoms including in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
and birth control to women throughout Ghana. Delivery of This year, after the Obama administration somewhat eased
medical supplies and blood products is just the tip of the the use of small drones by real estate agents, farmers,
iceberg. Amazon Prime Air is pioneering drone delivery of filmmakers and countless other commercial
other goods. The unmanned aerial vehicles are able to operators, experts tested drones in New Jersey for disaster
transport items as heavy as five pounds to locations up to 30 response. In December, two disaster drones delivered
minutes away. telemedical packages to victims and rescue personnel in a
Private trials have been run in the United Kingdom and simulated mass casualty event at an airport in Mississippi. I
there are multiple development centers in the United States, believe that within the next 3-5 years, technology and
Israel, the United Kingdom, and Austria. According to any regulation will allow for the development of a more
times interview in December 2016, the first Amazon drone effective disaster response with the help of these small and
successfully delivered goods to a home in Cambridgeshire, agile helpers be a steady scaling up of impact.”
England. Drones that have been tested in the U.S. have shown
The implications of drone delivery systems are vast and promise for improving the nation's rural healthcare. July 15,
truly unknown. Drones have the potential to revolutionize 2015, marked the first time medicine was delivered and
medical care, and this is only the beginning. received by drone in a rural area, during the Wise
Expedition—one of the largest annual medical outreach
Drones are the future of delivery events in the country
According to my geek calendar, 2017 will be the year of the “There's so much healthcare disparity here in the
drone. These advanced versions of model airplanes or mountains,” Dr. Teresa Gardner Tyson, executive director
unmanned aerial vehicles are everywhere on the rise. of Health Wagon, which operates a mobile clinic in
According to the estimates of the Consumer Technology southwest Virginia, told The Rural Monitor. “So anything
Association, 9.4 million units were projected to be sold in that we can put in our armor to address healthcare
2016 worldwide; and the number will soar in 2017. disparities, any resource that we can bring to the region, it's
all welcomed.”
After a massive EF4 tornado ripped through Hattiesburg,
Miss., in 2013, researchers at William Carey University
College of Osteopathic Medicine began rethinking how to
respond to medical emergencies during disasters, the
Healthcare Integrated Rescue Operations project, known as
HIRO, which uses a modified drone capable of carrying a
20-pound medical kit.
“Embedded inside the kit is a Smartphone, which enables a
live video chat between the injured party and the physician,”
said Dr. Italo Subbarao, an associate dean at Carey who led
the team
Fig 1 The possibilities for drones in healthcare are vast. They can

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help deliver lab tests to diagnose patients faster, distribute disposable parachute launched from the drone.
contraceptives, help disaster victims with necessities and The unmanned planes are navigated using cellular networks
more. The sky's the limit. and GPS, and can make deliveries within 30 minutes.
Few technologies have undergone as radical a change as Another project uses drone delivery of medications in
drones. Where five years ago, unmanned aerial vehicles, conjunction with telemedicine appointments in rural
UAVs, or drones, were mainly seen as an instrument of war, Maryland. Finally, Zipline and their drones would link large
today they are far more likely to be flown by a wedding healthcare centers to hospitals and tribal clinics near Reno,
photographer than an airman. Earlier this year, the Nevada.
Consumer Technology Association estimated that globally
9.4 million civilian UAVs will be sold in 2016. Malawi, Drones, and HIV
Increased reliability, ease of use and much lower prices
have also made drones a viable technology for humanitarian
responders. Rarely a week goes by without a new idea for
how UAVs can revolutionize humanitarian aid: from drones
that promise to detonate landmines to edible drones.
However, this hardware centric view often neglects drawing
on humanitarian best practice, respecting legal frameworks,
or considering ethical aspects of humanitarian innovation.
At the core of the research were 14 case studies from 10
countries that looked at the impact of drones in situations
ranging from search and rescue, to damage
assessments and camp management to transporting medical
samples.
The technology is mature so that skilled users can quickly
Fig 3
produce information products that are of immediate use for
humanitarian programmes: drones can take photos that have
Matternet, another US-based tech company, partnered with
10 times as much detail as satellite images.
UNICEF to deliver HIV testing kits to clinics and hospitals
In addition, they can fly underneath cloud cover that often
throughout Malawi. According to UNICEF, approximately
blocks the view from space. The results are especially useful
10% of Malawians have HIV, which is currently one of the
in countries that experience recurring disasters such as
highest rates of infection in the world.
floods, storms or landslides, where precise maps can help
Drones, capable of carrying 250 tests, pick up testing kits
empower communities to increase their own resilience to
from clinics throughout Malawi and then make laboratory
natural hazards or reduce risks to lives and livelihoods.
deliveries. Despite an overwhelming percentage of HIV+
patients, there are currently only eight labs able to run these
Drone in Action
tests.
Drones have been successfully used in Rwanda, Taiwan,
In Malawi, HIV medications are not provided until there is a
Nepal, and other countries to reach remote villages and
positive test result. Without the use of drones, it can take
hospitals. Most recently, California-based Zipline will bring
almost two months for results to be returned – this time
its drone delivery program to rural communities in
frame delays medical treatment in newborns as well as
Maryland, Nevada, and Washington, including some Native
newly infected adults.
American reservations.
UNICEF predicts that drones will be more cost-effective
than the current mode of transportation and will speed the
delivery of life-saving medications.

Fig 2

Before the use of medical drones, it would take an average Fig 4

of four hours to make an emergency delivery to a hospital.
Drones are able to make the same deliveries in The future use of drones in healthcare also is very thought
approximately 15 minutes. provoking.
Hospitals using this technology order the medicine or blood The rapid delivery of vaccines, medications and supplies
via text message, and the product is delivered via a right to the source could quash outbreaks of life-threatening

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communicable diseases. Communication equipment, mobile industry continue to grow.

technology, portable shelter comprises the vast list of what In the future, small indoor drones could deliver medicine to
could be delivered in a rapid fashion to areas where critical the bedside of a patient from the pharmacy, thus eliminating
infrastructure damage would prevent ground or typical air some human steps. This would lead to more rapid and less
transport. error prone administration of medications. Nurses and
This technology may allow more people in nursing homes to pharmacists can work more efficiently as supplies can be
receive care at home for a longer period of time, which summoned to the bedside instead of the time consuming
would increase the independence of the growing boomer task of gathering necessary items.
population as they age. A drone could keep tabs on a patient Drones could deliver medications and supplies to patients
living at home with dementia or deliver a meal to someone being cared for in the home instead of a hospital-based
who cannot prepare his or her own meals. I can envision setting. The future will see more outpatient care and even
drone automated external defibrillators (AED) that would home-based care that used to be delivered in the hospital.
fly to the patient in a public space to provide rapid For many conditions, drone technology may make it easier
defibrillation for ventricular fibrillation. No longer would a and safer to provide this home-based care. When a provider
person have obtained AEDs from a specific location that rounds on a home patient, blood can be drawn and
may be challenging to find in a rapid fashion. Simply immediately sent by drone to the lab to be tested.
summon the AED with the push of a button or smart phone Medications, antibiotics and treatments ordered by the
app. provider may be delivered to the home by drone.
Healthcare organizations already are deploying mobile This technology may allow more people in nursing homes to
technology to solve some of the problems in the industry receive care at home for a longer period of time, which
today. Mobile devices, wearable tech, remote monitoring, would increase the independence of the growing boomer
telemedicine and information sharing platforms all are population as they age. A drone could keep tabs on a patient
transforming healthcare. Likely in the foreseeable future, living at home with dementia or deliver a meal to someone
drones, robots and artificial intelligence will assume many who cannot prepare his or her own meals. I can envision
tasks in healthcare that are performed by humans, to reduce drone automated external defibrillators (AED) that would
variability, cost and error. fly to the patient in a public space to provide rapid
FAA approved drone fields are dotted around the United defibrillation for ventricular fibrillation. No longer would a
States -- open fields where you can legally indulge your person have obtained AEDs from a specific location that
drone hobby. This special white drone is made of may be challenging to find in a rapid fashion. Simply
Styrofoam, weighs just four pounds, and costs less than summon the AED with the push of a button or smart phone
$100. This hobby-grade drone could represent the future of app.
medical delivery.
Conclusion
Healthcare organizations already are deploying mobile
technology to solve some of the problems in the industry
today. Mobile devices, wearable tech, remote monitoring,
telemedicine and information sharing platforms all are
transforming healthcare. Likely in the foreseeable future,
drones, robots and artificial intelligence will assume many
tasks in healthcare that are performed by humans, to reduce
variability, cost and error.

References
1. www.drones in health care.com
2. www.medicaldrones.org
Fig 5 3. www.ncbi.in
4. www.cnbc.com
If access to labs and transporting samples for medical
testing were some of the biggest hurdles because of traffic,
poor roads and lack of accessibility, why not remove those
factors altogether? Why not fly the samples in a drone?
"The idea for using drones first came from the problems of
moving samples internationally,", "There's a need in places
that are really poor that don't have roads. And then in places
like here in the United States, we have issues with traffic."

Future
As more innovations are made and users continue to become
more proficient, a whole other world of opportunity and
potential applications will open up. The industry is eager to
fly beyond visual line of sight, and many hope that is
addressed more specifically in the next set of rules. For
now most seem happy with the guidance they finally have
from the FAA and are looking forward to seeing this

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