Use of unmanned aerial vehicles for medical product transport

Thiels, C. A., Aho, J. M., Zietlow, S. P., & Jenkins, D. H. · 2015

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This early clinical review sets out demand and risk for moving blood products and medicines to hospitals, mass-casualty scenes, and offshore vessels. Optimization papers cite it as a source for the idea of medical demand. It is not a trial of delivery performance.

It states that critical medical transport was then limited to ground vehicles and crewed aircraft, with cost and time constraints. The aim is to examine demand, feasibility, and risk of using small unmanned aircraft for blood and pharmaceuticals. It also includes a 2015 view that U.S. commercial rules might widen.

The regulatory description is the United States in 2015. It does not match today’s Part 107, nor another country’s Level 4 rules. Flight-test data and patient outcomes are not included.