Drones could deliver blood to hospitals

PALO ALTO, CA (KGO/CNN) – A California city could be the first in the U.S. to use drones to deliver blood. Drones are already being used in Switzerland to deliver blood from one medical facility to another. The company behind it is Matternet located in Menlo Park, CA. The company’s video shows how blood or medical samples can be put into a box, and with a push of a button, flown autonomously by a drone.

Stanford Blood Center is interested in the technology. “We’ll use a drone to deliver blood from Stanford Blood Center about 3.5 miles to Stanford Hospital down the road,” said Tho Pham, the medical director for the Stanford Blood Center. It can take 30 minutes to one hour to transport blood from the Blood Center to Stanford Hospital. Using a drone to deliver, would take 10 minutes.

The delivery would be dropped at a receiving station that would be located in a hospital parking lot or area convenient for medical staff to access. “With a system like this, you’re able to save tremendous amount of time and generally reduce waste throughout the hospital system,” said Matternet’s CEO Andreas Rappopoulous.

Palo Alto’s city manager said they’ve submitted their application and are excited the pilot program could potentially happen in what is considered the birthplace of Silicon Valley.

“We saw it as a really opportune moment for us to be in potentially on the front end of developing policies that could affect cities in the future,” said city manager James Keene.

If approved, doctors said the drones would be used to fly blood in emergencies, where time is critical, and they don’t have enough staff to transport supplies quickly.

Learn more about this article here

The primary goal of any Drobots Company program is to mentor participants on how to become lifelong learners and instill a strong sense of curiosity, confidence and teamwork. Due to the exponential growth of the drone industry, kids and teens may now explore, learn and evolve along with the applications of today and the discoveries of tomorrow. Drobots fosters this new technological landscape with a unique curriculum and well-trained positively motivated instructors.

“Drone camps“, “Drone STEM“, “Drone education“, “drone summer programs“, “drone kids events“, “drone teen events“ “drone curriculum” “futurism” for schools, academic institutions and other “drone STEM” related programs.

Attention kids and teens working on the next “drone business plan“. Join us at a Drobots Company “Drone Summer Camp“ program and determine what your first “drone business” is going to be? Drone technology has become the catalyst to so many new business ventures. So it’s never too early to “launch” your drone startup business now! Join one of the Drobots Company national “Drone summer program” boot camp and submit your “drone business“ solution and plan. Who knows what you may build…

Check out our Drone Review page to see which drone product best suits your needs, from the beginner to the advanced.

Drone Summer Camp Programs and Curriculum For Kids And Teens
Where STEM Education Takes Off & Technology Has Fresh Air!