As reported by Yahoo News: A Dutch-based student on Tuesday
unveiled a prototype of an "ambulance drone", a flying defibrillator
able to reach heart attack victims within precious life-saving minutes.
However, the drone is still in
its infancy as far as developing its steering mechanism and legal issues
regarding its use are concerned, Momont said.
Developed by
Belgian engineering graduate Alec Momont, it can fly at speeds of up to
100 KM per hour (60 miles per hour).
"Around
800,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest in the European Union every year
and only 8.0 percent survive," Momont, 23, said at the TU Delft
University.
"The main reason
for this is the relatively long response time of emergency services of
around 10 minutes, while brain death and fatalities occur with four to
six minutes," he said in a statement.
"The
ambulance drone can get a defibrillator to a patient within a 12 square KM (4.6 square miles) zone within a minute, reducing the chance
of survival from 8 percent to 80 percent."
Painted
in emergency services yellow and driven by six propellers, the drone
can carry a four kilogram load -- in this case a defibrillator.
It tracks emergency mobile calls and uses the GPS to navigate.
Once
at the scene, an operator, like a paramedic, can watch, talk and
instruct those helping the victim by using an on-board camera connected
to a control room via a livestream webcam.
The
prototype has already attracted the interest of emergency services
including that of Amsterdam, the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad said.
The Dutch Heart Foundation also applauded the idea, the newspaper added.
Momont
however wants his drone to become a "flying medical toolbox" able to
carry an oxygen mask to a person trapped in a fire or an insulin
injection to a diabetes sufferer.
He said he hopes to have an operational emergency drone network across the Netherlands in five years.
The drone is expected to cost around 15,000 euros ($19,000) each.
"I hope it will save hundreds of lives in the next five years," Momont said.
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