Dr Noreen Curtis-Lineen’s face beamed with satisfaction on Thursday as she examined a medical package which had just been delivered by drone to Clare Island, Co Mayo, in a groundbreaking operation.
“I hope in future this will be a very normal mode of bringing in essential medical supplies to the island and taking out blood samples to hospital for testing”, the multi-island GP said.
In just seven minutes, the bright red Eiger drone, operated by Air Taurus, made the short journey from Carrowmore beach at Louisburgh on the mainland to Clare Island, which has a population of about 130.
On the return journey to the mainland, the drone’s cargo payload consisted of a number of blank blood samples bottles.
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The potential of drones to bring blood samples from offshore islands and other remote rural communities to hospitals for testing is particularly pleasing for Dr Curtis-Lineen, who also counts Achill, Inishturk and Inishbiggle islands in her medical bailiwick.
“It’s not always suitable for people to travel over and back to the mainland to provide blood samples,” she noted.
“On Achill Island, for instance, a taxi service has to be used for blood deliveries to Castlebar [Mayo University Hospital], that’s a 100 kilometre round trip. This [drone use] would be much simpler, much easier.”
The island project is led by Irish company Air Taurus, which specialises in delivering aid to humanitarian agencies, in collaboration with the Health Service Executive and the University of Galway.
John Morris, programme director at Air Taurus, said drones could carry a COPD remote care package which includes a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, thermometer, and iPad for virtual patient monitoring; cardiac monitoring devices; and emergency response supplies including trauma kits and essential medicines.
“This is not just about flying from A to B. It’s about accessibility, about saving lives, about changing the way we think about logistics.
“Looking ahead we see huge opportunities for drone technology revolutionising emergency response and healthcare delivery for remote communities.”
Dr Ian McCabe, who lives on Clare Island and works with the University of Galway on developing telemedicine protocols and infrastructure to connect island communities with mainland-based healthcare, described the drone technology as a “game-changer” because of its capacity to save islanders unnecessary travel and stress.
Speaking at Thursday’s demonstration of drone capability, Julie Garland, founder and chief executive of Avtrain, which trains and certifies drone pilots and operators, called for Government and European funding to assist Air Taurus and other companies to develop in the community and grow.
“Currently we are lobbying for such funding at Government and European level,” she said.
