Delivery of medical supplies to inaccessible locations during relief efforts could see ships deploy armies of drones ferrying supplies to and from shore

A drone successfully delivered medical supplies to the New Jersey coastline straight from the deck of a ship, marking the first ship-to-shore delivery in the US.



The flight was designed to test whether drones could be used to carry human medical supplies to and from areas that cannot be access during major storms, earthquakes or other disasters.

The test was run by disaster preparedness non-profit Field Innovation Team. Drone-firm Flirtey, which managed the first land-based drone delivery of medical supplies to a rural health clinic in July 2015, flew medical samples to Camp May in partnership with Dr Timothy Amukele, assistant professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

While drones have already been mooted as one way to deliver goods, such as Amazon’s Air Prime drones, Amukele said that biological samples “are not like a shoe or a book, they are pretty fragile items”.

“For example, if blood is being carried on the back of motorcycle, shaking caused by the bike and its vibrations can ruin the sample,” said Amukele. “We want to see what tasks the drones can perform and if the drones have similar effects onsamples they carry.”

About 100 people looked on as the drones flew between an onshore medical relief camp and a test facility on a vessel stationed on the Delaware Bay late Wednesday afternoon. They took medical supplies from the vessel to the medical camp, while blood and other medical specimens were flown between the sites.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Flirtey’s first successful ship-to-shore delivery takes place in New Jersey. Photograph: Flirtey

“Imagine a future where in the event of a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy, Flirtey drones rapidly deliver emergency medical supplies, food and water,” said Flirtey chief executive Matt Sweeny. “This demonstration is helping to make that future a reality.”

Eight of the world’s 10 largest cities are coastal communities, and more than three billion people or 44% of the world’s population live within 95 miles of the coast, according to the United Nations.

Amukele believes it will probably take about five years before drones are used regularly in disaster situations. He notes that roughly 59 nations currently have drone regulations, so responders will need to know what rules other countries will put in place.

The tests came a day after the US government approved the routine use of small drones by estate agents, farmers, filmmakers and countless other commercial operators after years of struggling to write rules that would both protect public safety and free the benefits of a new technology.

Humanitarian relief agencies agree that drones have been helpful in certain operations for collecting data and imagery where infrastructure is destroyed or was already lacking, including in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. But they caution that humanitarian relief drones could be mistaken for military drones.

“The potential is indeed huge for drones to deliver small, life-saving packages, such as vaccines,” said George Fenton, director of humanitarian innovations at London-based World Vision International. “The potential for confusion between military action and humanitarian work is high, and we must proceed cautiously.”

Despite US moves, current UK legislation dictates that drones cannot be flown within 50m of a building or a person or within 150 metres of a built-up area. The maximum flight height is also only 400 feet, while the drone has to remain in line of sight and within 500 metres of the pilot, which has restricted attempts to use drones for delivery or surveillance purposes.

Pilots must complete a training course and apply for a permit from the Civil Aviation Authority to fly the drone for commercial purposes.

Meanwhile the world’s first passenger drone has been cleared for testing in Nevada, which could revolutionise transport both in urban environments and in disaster situations.