The Argyll and Bute area of Scotland contains 23 islands and has a population of around just 90,000 people. In the rural Scottish region winding roads around looming hills, plus ferry journeys, mean that often it can take as long as 36 hours for medical samples to reach the necessary destinations for testing.
Credit: Skyports / Swoop Aero
But that was before Skyports, a mobility company that offers drone services, was on the scene. Last year, in collaboration with Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), Skyports began carrying COVID and other test samples between medical facilities in the region, reducing journey times to as little as 15 minutes.
According to Skyports, across a three month test period, the company saved over 12,000 hours in waiting and transport time for test samples, carried over 900 patients’ samples and travelled over 14,000km.
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Offering both cargo deliveries and surveillance services, Skyports has also become the first UK operator to receive permission from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to carry diagnostic specimens by drone.
Duncan Walker, Skyports' CEO said: “Using drone deliveries within supply chains can create significant time and cost savings. This project underscores the viability of drone technology as a practical way to move goods.”
Lisa Robinson, a Health Care Support Worker based in Oban, said, “It has proved invaluable in delivering urgent samples to the laboratory for analysis.”
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The drones are about two metres wide and weigh about 20 kilograms. They take off in a similar manner to a helicopter but then fly more like planes. Each drone can carry as many as 60 individual samples.
Alex Brown, director of drone services at Skyports, has said that once staff order drones they can arrive within the hour, monumentally speeding up the turnaround process for testing samples.
Given the success of the scheme, Skyports now plans to roll out its drone services to cover cargo ships. Currently, small boats have to be sent out from cargo ships to bring items to shore as the ships are waiting to dock.
There are also plans for Skyports to start new sample transportation trials in Ipswich, England and Montrose, Scotland.
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