![Skyports Drone Services medical drone delivery](https://dronelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/814A8654GabrielReynolds-300x200.jpg)
By DRONELIFE Staff Author Ian M. Crosby
Leading healthcare logistics provider EMED Group and drone logistics and monitoring leader Skyports Drone Services have accomplished a proof-of-concept project searching for to supply medical courier services with additional innovation and sustainability advantages.
The four-week trial launched this past June, and was run with EMED Group customer East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT). The project saw the successful delivery of greater than 400 pathology samples between two ESNEFT sites, demonstrating the flexibility of frequent drone operations to help traditional medical courier services in further enhancing services for patients and healthcare professionals. Deliveries are being conducted using Skyports Drone Services’ Swoop Aero Kookaburra III aircraft, a hard and fast wing aircraft with a 3kg payload. The drone is a tried and tested platform, which Skyports Drone Services has used on countless medical delivery missions, flying tens of 1000’s of kilometres to this point. The drone flies at 100 meters in segregated airspace.
Medical Courier Services by Drone
“This project is a vital milestone highlighting progressive practices within the medical courier space. As a healthcare business, we’re driven by our mission to enhance the wellbeing of the communities we serve,” said Craig Smith, Group CEO of EMED Group. “This initiative is an excellent example of this. Not only does it provide tangible environmental advantages, however it also ensures that vital pathology samples and medical supplies are quickly and effectively transported between points of care with no risk to delays we frequently experience on the road network. All of this ultimately ensures our communities are that little bit healthier and people with medical needs are diagnosed more rapidly.”
“We’re at a extremely necessary stage within the scaling of medical drone logistics,” said Director of Skyports Drone Services Alex Brown. “Projects similar to this one with EMED are helping pave the way in which for everlasting operations by demonstrating just how secure, useful and effective drone services are – and the convenience with which they could be implemented. Each delivery we complete ensures that a patient receives the care they need that bit quicker. At scale, the impact is transformational.”
“It is a really exciting step in taking a look at recent technologies to assist deliver healthcare faster,” said Shelley Garrey, Service Lead – Support Services at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust. “Using drones means patients will receive their results quicker while saving time and resources. That is an exciting pilot project and we hope we will look to expand in the long run.”
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