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Drones in disaster medicine

12 December 2022
How are unmanned aircraft being used in medical disaster response? Perhaps more importantly, what are the future possibilities of this technology in this application? We reviewed three articles to answer these questions. Some exciting Canadian research, a real-life success story, and lots of questions about how this will advance our ability to respond to disasters.

Drones in disaster medicine

Daud, Sharifah Mastura Syed Mohd, et al. "Applications of drone in disaster management: A scoping review." Science & Justice 62.1 (2022): 30-42.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2021.11.002

Flemons, Kristin, et al. "The use of drones for the delivery of diagnostic test kits and medical supplies to remote First Nations communities during COVID-19." American journal of infection control 50.8 (2022): 849-856.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2022.03.004

Zhang, You, et al. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Interhospital Transport of Critically Ill Cardiovascular Patients under Extreme Weather Conditions." Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 37.2 (2022): 294-296.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X22000267

OTHER RESOURCES
A previous journal club on drones in disaster medicine:
https://www.ceep.ca/post/drones-and-disaster-medicine

Cost effectiveness analysis from website Unmanned Airspace:
https://www.unmannedairspace.info/commentary/comparing-the-cost-effectiveness-of-drones-v-ground-vehicles-for-medical-food-and-parcel-deliveries/

Commentary and other resources on hospital evacuation:
https://www.ceep.ca/post/hospital-evacuation

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