Drones can be safely used to deliver urgent blood stocks between hospitals, a new research project suggests. Researchers from NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) wanted to see whether a component of blood can be delivered using drones without compromising its quality. They sent identical stocks via road and through the skies to assess whether there would be any impact.
These “packed red blood cell components” were sent from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Wansbeck Hospital and Alnwick Infirmary and back again. The drones travelled distance of 68 kilometres over Northumbrian coastline in a journey that took just over an hour (61 minutes). For the purposes of the study, the drone route was not the most direct available so in reality the distances would be shorter with quicker travel times.
NHSBT said that the drone journey was classed as a “beyond visual line of sight flight” – meaning the pilot cannot see the physical drone as it travels and monitors it remotely. The journey was carefully planned out with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The ground vehicles took a route that was 74.
6 kilometres and it took 68 minutes. Overall, 10 blood packs were sent on 10 journeys – five by land and five through the air. Each pack was then analysed to assess the quality of the blood and whether it would still be viable for clinical use.
Researchers examined the concentration of potassium and the percentage of bloods cells which had been destroyed. They found there.