India may have the first medical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) corridor by the end of 2022. It has the potential to acquire a drone corridor on an extended campus in Jhajjar, Haryana, as AIIMS, India’s leading medical institution. In this case, transporting life-saving supplies to AIIMS Jhajjar, about 50 km from the main campus, takes only a few minutes.
If approved then regular drone flights may start in six months
A senior aviation ministry officials has said, the ministry and Airports Authority of India have approved this plan. “AIIMS is awaiting other approvals. Once that happens test flights will be carried out. If all goes well, regular drone flights may start in about six months,” the official added.
Drones will be used to transport blood samples, blood products and medicines
One of the top officials from AIIMS also said that “We are waiting for an approval from Delhi Police. Once we have it, the drone facility will be launched by the health minister,” he said. He further added, drones will be used to transport blood samples, blood products and medicines. “There are some tests that aren’t available at the Jhajjar campus currently. We can use the drones to transport samples to Delhi campus for testing. Similarly, blood products can be transported in case of urgent requirement,” he explained.
For the past year, drones have been used to send medicines, including the Covid vaccine, to remote parts of India. In the future, it will be used more and more to deliver life-saving medicines quickly. The tricky part is to use them in urban areas, including areas in the airport flight lanes.
Challenges faced by this drone plan
One of the challenges in transporting medicines, blood sample, blood products or organs to be used for transplant is how to maintain its temperature, handle vibration that may be caused during the transportation and other contingency plans like biosafety.
Air traffic control plays an important role in this corridor
Drone corridors are defined as isolated airspaces defined by relevant authorities in consultation with airspace designers to keep commercial UAV operations away from airspaces operated by manned aircraft. Air traffic control, which falls under AAI, plays an important role in this corridor as it crosses the flight corridor / approach lane of the runway at Delhi Airport. AIIMS is under the approach road on Runway 27 (closest to the Dwarka side). Next is the IIT area, which is the flight corridor of the main runway (28). And beyond that, the Sackett Mall and Kutabminar areas are an approach to Runway 29 (near the Shibuji statue). IGI Airport will open a fourth runway between runways 28 and 29 within a few months.
Other medical institutions can replicate for better utilization technology and equipment
“The AIIMS project for rushing life-saving medical supplies through drones is excellent. If it succeeds, other medical institutions in various states can replicate the same model for better utilisation technology and equipment,” Dr Harsh Mahajan, founder and chief radiologist of Mahajan Imaging and former president NATHEALTH, said.
