The Northern Rivers Times
February 18, 2021
HEALTH & WELLBEING 51
Bush Uber for blood and meds: Australia’s first drone trial for life-saving medical supplies for remote communities
Custom-made, stateof-the-art medical drones with a flying range of up to 250km will be developed and trialled for delivery of potentially life-saving medicines in the Northern Territory Australia’s first ever healthcare drone trail for regional Australia. The project will also pave the way for future delivery of critical items such as cold-storage vaccines (Covid 19) in regional and remote communities, the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre – part of the Federal Government-funded CRC Program revealed today. The Northern Territory is one of the most sparsely settled jurisdictions in the developed world with a significant Indigenous population living in remote communities. iMOVE is funding the project in partnership with the NT Government Department of Health and Charles Darwin University (CDU), who will manage the trial under Associate Professor Hamish Campbell. The project is already running with talks underway with manufacturers for suitable drone airframes capable of handling wet and dry seasons, and a maximum flying range of 250km. Leading drone services consultants Hover UAV, who have managed projects for
Google and developed cutting-edge shark detection surveillance technology, are advising on the project. Drone pilots will soon be recruited and will undergo specialist training. The Project will involve developing a drone test flight centre in the Northern Territory. Key goals and milestones for the project include: • Regular drone flights of up to 100km by the end of 2021 • Regular drone flights of up to 250km & regular transport of medical items to and from remote communities by July 1, 2023 • Further development into drone delivery of cold-chain items (COVID-19 vaccine) iMOVE programs director Lee-Ann Breger, a specialist in transformational R&D, conceived the project and was heavily involved in bringing together the necessary industry and government partners needed to undertake the project. “There are about eight million people living in rural and remote parts of the country - that’s about a third of our population living in places where getting life-saving medical supplies
is not only a race against time, but also a battle against the tyranny of distance, harsh landscapes and unpredictable elements,” she said. “Regional communities face medical access and health supply issues. This doesn’t have to be the case. We have the technology to put an end to this deprivation, especially in remote Northern Territory First Nations communities,” she said. Breger said one of the project’s main goals was to create an efficient model so drone health delivery services could eventually be rolled out in other regional locations across Australia. “We are looking at developing capacity and ways of doing things to ensure sustainability of this service beyond the lifetime of the project. It’s ground-breaking and important work, with significant benefits for millions of people who live in regional areas. “Drones seem an obvious solution, a potential gamechanger. In the not too distant future, if you see a drone flying overhead in the middle of nowhere there’s a fair chance that technology is on its way to help someone or even save their life,” Breger said.
Researchers are inviting parents to have their say in the development of future healthcare services for children by sharing their views on how they have managed common health issues, including the treatments and services they access and what factors influence these decisions. Associate Professor Matthew Leach from the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine is leading the research. He says that this information is pivotal to the future of healthcare delivery for children in Australia. “We know parents use a range of treatments and services to manage common health conditions in their children, but we do not fully understand what these treatments and services are, and why parents choose to use
them,” said Associate Professor Leach. “The answers sought in this study will help determine future healthcare priorities and ensure health services are delivering safe and effective care to children.” In the first five years of life, children will encounter many short-term health issues such as cough, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever. In most cases, these conditions are easily resolved without involvement of a health professional and instead, can be managed by parents at home. However, there is still some uncertainty as to the types of treatments that Australian parents use to manage these childhood issues, why certain interventions are chosen and where information is sought
from regarding these treatments. The results of this study will generate important information to influence health service planning and the development of appropriate health education and public health strategies. “We must understand how parents and their children engage with the healthcare system to be able to help parents make informed decisions about the management of common health conditions,” said Associate Professor Leach. “Ultimately, it is about improving child health outcomes through the development of informed future health services that are appropriate, accessible and acceptable to parents.”
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