Preliminary application of drones in emergency blood delivery / 中国输血杂志

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To explore the viability and advantages of drones in blood emergency delivery. 【Methods】 The delivery of emergency blood by drones to the Second People′s Hospital of Yuhang District(referred as Yuhang Hospital) and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical College (referred as Binjiang Hospital) was analyzed retrospectively. The 8: 00-24: 00 traffic condition, at the interval of 2h, of working days were inquired by Baidu Map in order to compare the driving time with drone flight time. The temperature of RBCs and platelets during drone flight were monitored, and take-off and landing temperature were compared. 【Results】 47 deliveries (a total of 192 bags, 295 U) of suspended RBCs and 35 deliveries (a total of 113 bags, 159.5 therapeutic dose) of platelets were, respectively, conducted to Yuhang Hosital and Binjiang Hospital. Two transfer stations for battery charging were needed during the delivery to Yuhang Hospital, and the average one-way time by driving was similar with by drones(50 vs 55 min), without any superiority in time-efficiency. Binjiang Hospital, however, benefited from this drone delivering(driving 10mins vs drone 6 mins). As round-trip delivery for emergency blood was saved, it’s economical for the hospital to get the time-sensitive blood timely. The temperature of suspended RBCs and platelets during flight was between 2.1~7.9 ℃ and 20.2~24.2 ℃, with temperature difference at 0.3~3.7 ℃ and 0.3~3.6℃, respectively. 【Conclusion】 Drones, with good application prospects, can be applied in emergency blood delivery, and further study is needed to improve the time-efficiency and cold chain monitoring system.