Researchers Are Developing Defibrillator-Carrying EMS Drones

Welcome to the future – almost. It seems like over the last few years, commercial drones have really been taking off in popularity. (I can't tell you how much I reeeeeally wish commercial drones were around when I was a kid.)

But drones are starting to have a lot of different uses – there are military drones and Amazon delivery drones, for example. But this new drone has the potential to be the best one yet: medical emergency drones. This is very cool.

Researchers have been testing the idea of sending out drones carrying heart defibrillators to assist with medical emergencies involving cardiac arrests. It’s still in the very early stages, but so far in 18 different tests, they’ve discovered that these drones can arrive at the scene within 5 minutes of launch.

Since deaths can occur within minutes, cardiac arrests outside of a hospital are often lethal. That’s why this could be a real game-changer. When the drone swoops in with an attached defibrillator, an electronic voice would also start giving instructions on how to revive the victim.

Again, this is all in the early stages, but it sounds like an incredible idea to me. Just imagine a future where something unexpected happens to a loved one, but luckily a rescue drone is potentially just minutes away. This is something that could save countless lives – especially if they develop drones for scenarios outside of cardiac arrests. You can read more about the research here, but needless to say, this is one of the coolest things I've read in a while.

Source: CBS Minnesota