Island Health is looking to the skies for the future of health care service delivery, with the successful test of a drone delivery system at North Island Hospital, Comox Valley recently.
The demo was of a six-bladed hexacopter drone, which made a few flights near the hospital demonstrating a simulated medical supply delivery. The all-electric drone demo was done by the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research.
“I am very excited, and my mind’s already going in a million different directions about the ways we could use this to better serve our patients – especially our patients in very rural and remote communities,” said Dr. Dieter de Bruin, executive medical director for Clinical Service Delivery on the North Island.
One application in particular is for easier delivery of lab and pharmaceutical supplies to remote hospitals, such as the one on Cormorant Island. The ferry to Cormorant Island only runs during the day, and not during inclement weather. Having another method of delivery would benefit that community, Island Health said in a release.
“A drone solution to move lab supplies back and forth will allow us to better serve the community and also provide another service for our clinicians and physician partners,” said Max Jajszczok, executive lead, Rural and Remote Health Sustainability and Clinical Services Planning.
There are more hurdles to jump before the sky will be filled with drones delivering everything from medical supplies to blood samples. Issues like privacy, security, regulations, budgets and more will need to be addressed before then. However, David Hall, operations director for Laboratory Services for the Central and North Island, says the use of drones could be a “technological transformation” for Island Health.
“If there was a network of these semi-autonomous drones moving medical supplies, lab samples, blood supplies, all of that stuff – it would just be amazing," he said.
Further work could be done under a potential partnership between the UVic CfAR and Island Health through the North Island Research and Innovation Hub. This demo, according to Island Health, was an important first phase in that process.
“I think our first exploration with Island Health will really get us a better understanding of how we can use our technology to meet the needs of healthcare on Vancouver Island,” says Jay Matlock, manager of UVic CfAR.
Future demos will likely take place north of Campbell River, which could open the skies up to many, wide-reaching benefits.
