We all know that drones are already being used in many different ways: they are used to deliver purchases to clients, spray crops with pesticides, film the interiors of buildings, and even for security purposes. Their speed and compact size allows drones to be more efficient than a lot of vehicles in many different scenarios, and given their efficiency it is only natural to use drones in life-or-death situations.
Universities are looking into using drones to assist in emergencies both on campus and elsewhere. If someone were to be involved in a car crash, a drone could be sent to the site of the crash equipped with recordings that bystanders could use to administer potentially life-saving first-aid; it could also reach a doctor immediately, so that bystanders or the victim can receive advice instantly.
In the future, defibrillators may come attached on drones as well, to help people who have heart attacks. The drone would be equipped with instructions for bystanders, and they will be told how to use the defibrillator on the person experiencing cardiac arrest in order to reset their heart rhythm. Doing so can save the person’s life, and minimize the time the victim’s brain goes without oxygen.
In large-scale emergencies such as building collapses or shootings where a number of people require medical attention, drones would come with several pieces of medical equipment and first-aid items. This would allow people who are able to help treat the wounded and injured people quickly, using the drones’ supplies to help dress wounds and stop bleeding. Emergency services would be on the scene alongside the drones, so the drones could be used to deal with the less serious injuries allowing those with major injuries to receive more care from emergency personnel.
Designers and university scholars are creating emergency kits to attach to drones that can be used for different situations as needed. Drones dispatched to help someone having a heart attack would come with a defibrillator, drones sent to help someone bitten by a poisonous snake would come with antivenom, and so on.
A lot more research has to be conducted before medical drones become commonplace, but they will likely be released in the near future given drones’ positive impacts elsewhere in society. A drone can arrive sooner than emergency personnel, and the earliest moments of an emergency are the most crucial to saving someone’s life. Medical drones will hopefully be able to help save many people and help reduce the burden on emergency personnel in the near future.
