Drones could soon transport blood to US hospitals

Daniel Allar | | Cardiovascular Business | Patient Care

Palo Alto, California, is looking to become the first U.S. city to use drones to deliver blood from one medical facility to another, according to CNN.

Stanford Blood Center is interested in logistics company Matternet’s technology, which is already being used to transport blood in Switzerland.

The blood center said it would take 10 minutes for a drone delivery compared to 30 minutes to one hour to drive the blood 3.5 miles down the road to Stanford Hospital. Doctors told CNN the drones would be used to fly blood in time-sensitive emergencies and could alleviate the problem of not having enough staff to transport supplies quickly.

"With a system like this, you're able to save tremendous amount of time and generally reduce waste throughout the hospital system," Matternet CEO Andreas Rappopoulous said.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently announced it will select a small number of pilot projects to help integrate the drones, according to CNN. Palo Alto has submitted a bid.

Read the full story here:

Drones could deliver blood to hospitals

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Daniel Allar

Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.

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