Vertiflite May/June 2021

THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Educational Initiatives

Main Advantages of Medical Drones Drones have a considerable advantage over traditional medical delivery services in distributing Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) or delivering blood to hospitals. Typical road traffic wastes precious time, which is especially relevant for cardiac arrests, where every minute without medical intervention decreases the chance of survival.

VFS has student chapters at universities around the world. Here are the latest activities of the student chapter at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the VFS Montreal-Ottawa Chapter ( mtlott.vtol.org ). Drones in theMedical Field

Even more contemporary needs have been addressed by drones, such as of the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to communities in Ghana. These communities made the hard decision to physically isolate and close roads to prevent the spread of the disease, making the drone distribution of vaccines a necessity. In British Columbia, Reece has been delivering

On March 8, the VFS McGill Chapter — along with the McGill Biomedical Engineering Club — organized a virtual panel marrying two topics that are not often together: drones and medicine. Specifically, how could the ever- growing capabilities of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology be used in the medical field? Our panelists each brought their own perspective to this question, providing insights on how to expand the use of drones with medical professionals. Dr. Valerie Homier (bottom left in the screenshot) is a specialist in emergency medicine at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) and a board member for the Center of Excellence in Emergency Preparedness (CEEP). She frequently serves as an advisor and emergency preparedness expert on different projects at regional and provincial levels. She was appointed Medical Co-director of Emergency Preparedness at the MUHC in 2017. Philip Reece (bottom right) is an engineer and the CEO of InDro Robotics. His company is at the forefront of delivering and operating drones in Canada to collect data and to extend the use of UAS to atypical applications. It is currently the only company allowed by Transport Canada to carry cargo on drones. Martin Leprohon (bottom middle) is an airport planner consultant at Airbiz, an international aviation consulting company. He oversees short-, medium- and long-term project planning for airport facilities’ operations. Drones in the medical context have primarily been imagined as delivery vehicles capable of moving organs for fast transplants, blood to locations in urgent need and medical equipment for on-site staff. As drone technology evolves, the medical field will surely benefit from its advancements.

medicine to the smaller islands off the coast of Vancouver Island. Transitioning this medical delivery to drone transport cut travel time from four hours via ferry to a short seven- minute flight. Drones have also proven to be useful in the case of what is called “short route redundancy,” where the drone flies in-between two points regularly with a predetermined flight path. Homier and Reece explained this could be applied in the case of Montreal and Héma-Québec, the local supplier of blood. Test flights in this context were evaluated for the capabilities of carrying the blood safely by monitoring its temperature while in transport. This use would allow blood to travel from Héma-Québec to Montreal hospitals in case of an emergency where regular means of transportation are critically impaired, like during a winter snowstorm. Another proposed medical context would see drones alleviate the risks for first responders to a disaster scene.

May / June 2021

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