Medical Drone

Drones can transport medicines and vaccines, and retrieve medical samples, into and out of remote or otherwise inaccessible regions. Medical drones are capable of flying at speeds of up to 128 km/hour and carrying a cargo of 1.75 kg.

Brief Timeline

• 2014: A Dutch student created a prototype 'Ambulance drone' which would be capable of rapidly delivering defibrillators and include live stream communication capability allowing paramedics to remotely observe and instruct on-scene individuals in how to use the defibrillators.


• March 2016: The drone delivery company Flirtey made the first fully autonomous approved urban delivery, when it delivered bottled water, emergency food, and a first aid kit to an uninhabited residential area in Hawthorne, Nevada.


• 2016: The Rwandan government partnered with the company Zipline International Inc. to build a distribution center near the town of Muhanga, from which the company's drones are used to deliver blood and pharmaceutical products to 21 facilities. March 2017, the company Matternet partnered with the Swiss Post to launch the first medical drone delivery network in Switzerland.


• October 2017: REMSA Health, an ambulance and emergency service provider, partnered with Flirtey, to dispatch portable defibrillators to emergency callers in Northern Nevada.