Canadians are now getting medical assistance from drones, providing lifesaving supplies in cases when rescuers can’t get there fast enough.
Renfrew County will be the first paramedic service to use the drones, which can carry everything from narcotics antidotes to defibrillators and flotation devices.
“We know that there are a lot of factors that might get in the way of paramedics responding to a patient at a time of need, weather, or distance or traffic even and the drone gives us the ability to get above all that,” said Renfrew County Paramedic Chief Mike Nolan.
The department has four droned and will be working with them extensively.
According to CTV Ottawa, Nolan refers to the drones as a “game changer.”
For the drone developer, the sky is the limit.
“If you could launch the UAV from the ambulance as it was on the way to a scene, it can fly over 80 km per hour and give the first responders information as to what the scene is going to look like and even map out a path for them to get in,” said Philip Reece, the CEO of InDRO Robotics Inc.
Nolan and his team will continue testing the drones in hope of nationwide deployment.
“We are going to continue trials over the course of the next year to test the technology, the operators’ capabilities to ensure that we can reach as far as possible with lifesaving tools like defibrillators,” Nolan said.
