UPS IS NOW USING DRONES TO DELIVER BLOOD TO A HOSPITAL
The cargo for the first revenue-generating drone delivery in the United States wasn’t an Amazon Package or 7-11 Slurpee— it was blood.
UPS launched a new drone service to transport blood and other medical samples between the various buildings at WakeMed Raleigh’s medical campus in North Carolina — and the speed at which the drones deliver the samples could literally be the difference between life and death.
UPS’s new service makes use of autonomous drone developer Matternet’s M2 quadcopter, which can reportedly carry a payload of up to five pounds a distance of approximately 20 kilometers (12.5 miles).
Medical professionals at WakeMed’s nearby facilities load the drone’s secure container with blood samples or other medical specimens, and the drone then follows a fixed path to the healthcare system’s main hospital and pathology lab for unloading.
