UAVs to help in Emergency Medical Delivery Systems

Bangalore: The Aeronautical Society of India in coordination with Indo-US Science & Technology Forum organized a 3-day brainstorming session cum seminar at Bangalore at Indian Institute of Science from 5th to 7th March 2018.

 

Various issues like the current status of emergency response services in India, the potential use of drones for an emergency response, building emergency care systems and various case studies showcasing the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the delivery of medical equipment and organs were presented.

 

While speaking in the inaugural session, Dr. R.K. Tyagi, President of The Aeronautical Society of India pointed out that in the year 2017 India had 4.8 lakh road accidents leading to more than 1.5 lakh people losing the life. India is also prone to natural disasters like Uttrakhand earthquake in the year 2013 followed by the floods in J&K in the next year.  The UAVs have a great potential for immediate help in such situations.

 

Dr. Tyagi also spoke about the potential use of UAVs in the recently announced National Health Protection Scheme wherein 10 crore families will be covered under the scheme for a treatment up to Rs.5 lakh per annum.  Seventy percent of those families i.e. about 35 crore people reside in rural and far-flung areas.  The UAVs have a great potential to provide emergency medical services and supplies of medicines to such people situated in remote areas. The Aeronautical Society of India is coming out with a blueprint which will lay the foundation for use of UAVs for enhancing the quality of reach of National Health Protection Scheme launched by the Prime Minister recently.