Drones Complete 16 Mile Flight, Ready To Serve In Rural Areas

Greifswald University Hospital, German air ambulance service DRF Luftrettung and Wingcopter recently partnered to transport blood samples sixteen miles in the Northeast German federal state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. 

The flights were carried out by Greifswald University Medical Center in cooperation with DRF Luftrettung and Wingcopter as part of the MV|LIFE|DRONE Challenge project of the hospital's Department of Anesthesiology. 

The Wingcopter completed the 16-kilometer route in an average of 18 minutes, nearly twice as fast as ground-based transport. The use of Wingcopter drones could thus significantly speed up emergency medical care in rural areas and help save lives. An example where this could come into play is if someone needs a blood transfusion on short notice and time is of the essence.

"With this project, we have demonstrated that we can also improve medical care and quality of life in rural areas in Germany. With our new unmanned aerial vehicle, the Wingcopter 198, this can be carried out even more efficiently in the future,” says Ansgar Kadura, co-founder and CSO of Wingcopter. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the project team at the Department of Anesthesiology as part of the MV|LIFE|DRONE Challenge and beyond."

Greifswald University Medical Center’s goal is to establish permanent flight connections between the medical center in Greifswald and hospitals in the surrounding area as soon as possible. The drones can also be used to save lives on the scene of an accident if accessible to first responders.

FMI: https://wingcopter.com/