A quiet country stroll. Then — disaster. A man clutches his chest and collapses. His partner dials 999, but help is miles away.
Instead of an ambulance, a drone descends, landing lightly on the grass. Its cargo? A defibrillator.
With the assistance of a local first responder, alerted via their phone, the woman administers crucial first aid — valuable minutes before paramedics arrive.
Disaster averted. A life saved.
Sounds like science fiction?
Thanks to a groundbreaking drone trial at Aberdeen Airport, this scenario is edging closer to reality.
Project Caelus and the quest to unlock drone power
In November and December last year, drones taking part in a groundbreaking trial transported medical supplies between Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin and Aberdeen.
The flights — more than 100 of them — may not have been far, just 40 miles as the crow flies.
But they were a first step in what health chiefs hope will eventually be a drone network above our heads, transporting blood samples, diagnostic tools, chemotherapy infusions and — yes — even defibrillators to stricken men on secluded country paths.
Before we get there, the UK will require an overhaul of its drone regulations. To go ahead, the trial at Aberdeen Airport required special dispensation because of rules that currently limit where unmanned aircraft such as drones can fly.
But those behind the trial believe medical drones will eventually forge a path for other flight deliveries, ushering in a new era where everything from takeaway food to Amazon parcels arrives from above.
In a wide-ranging overview of the trial, the Press and Journal spoke to key players as well as leading officials from NHS Grampian involved in the ambitious initiative, which is called Project Caelus, named after a god of the sky in Roman mythology.
The Caelus team hope drones will deliver not only critical equipment to the health board’s large and — in places — remote catchment area but also on their promise of greater efficiency and speed.
With further trials and regulatory developments ahead, Scotland could soon see an airborne revolution in healthcare — where help doesn’t just come by road, but by sky.
The potential benefits of medical drones
One of the first things those involved in Project Caelus like to make clear is that while it’s fun to imagine all the scenarios drones could help in, don’t get too excited just yet.
Medical drones are still some way off.
“It’s a bit like all innovation — there’s a gap between the excitement and what’s absolutely possible, and the day-to-day reality,” said Adam Coldwells, NHS Grampian interim chief executive. “So please be as excited as I think we all are, but realise it’s at an innovation phase.”
The scenario outlined above, in which a drone comes to the rescue of what in medical circles is called an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA), is depicted in a Scottish Ambulance Service video in partnership with Project Caelus. It is designed to show what drones could one day achieve, even though the reality is still some way off.
Still, Mr Coldwells sees enormous potential in the innovation.
“This is a really great example of something that can really transform patient experience and how patients are cared for,” he says.
How drones can save time and lives
One of the biggest advantages of medical drones is their ability to serve remote and rural areas. This is especially significant for NHS Grampian, one of the country’s largest and most rural health boards.
Fiona Smith is the group head of aerodrome strategy for AGS Airports, the owner of Aberdeen Airport, where the drone trial was held. She explains exactly how drones could transform healthcare access.
“If I live on the Moray Coast, I may need to go to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment, and that can take up to an hour and 40 minutes by car one way,” she says.
“If we could fly treatments to the Moray Coast or to Dr Gray’s in Elgin for patients to be treated closer to home, then that’s a huge positive.”
What those time savings are is still up for debate, but drone trials across Scotland have shown significant benefits.
The almost 70-mile road journey from Aberdeen to Elgin would usually be completed by a taxi or van and take up to two hours. However, the drones used during the trial were able to complete the delivery within an hour.
Meanwhile, a test flight last year from Kilmarnock to the Isle of Arran shortened travel time from five hours to 30 minutes.
‘We’re absolutely in the vanguard of this work’
Hazel Dempsey, the national NHS programme manager, says that it is unlikely that patients would interact with drones themselves, certainly in the initial stages. The long-term plan envisages drones as a courier service.
“It’s unlikely that we’ll have the public engaging with drones early doors,” she says. “Potentially, that will come later.”
But the NHS doesn’t want to lag behind in adopting this new technology.
“We’re absolutely in the vanguard of this work and I’ve got no doubt that drones will be part of society in the future,” Ms Dempsey adds. “And it’s important that the NHS is an early adopter of this technology, rather than playing catch-up.”
Moving closer to medical drone reality
For drones to become a permanent fixture in NHS logistics, further technological and regulatory progress is needed.
One key challenge is integrating drones into the existing airspace without human pilots having a direct line of sight.
“Drones are the first time in aviation history that you’ve taken the pilot out of the cockpit,” Ms Smith says. “That’s a huge step change in aviation.”
The airport expert calls it the “third evolution in aviation in its history”, following on from the Wright brothers and then jet propulsion.
Such a big change could face public resistance. Are we ready for a future in which drones whizz across the sky delivering all our needs?
That remains to be seen. But what the people at Project Caelus believe is that medical drones will likely pave the way towards public acceptance.
One report shared by the group shows that people generally view medical drones positively, not because they affect them personally, but because of their perceived good within the community, especially in remote and rural areas.
Meanwhile, Caelus envisions a real role for drones in any future pandemic or other emergencies.
“This technology and this activity is happening across the world, and it is going to happen in the UK,” says Karen Bell, the national programme manager for Project CAELUS and a former Ayrshire and Arran NHS R&D head. “We want to take the public with us on this really positive journey of how we can start to change the way we support healthcare delivery.”
Despite the challenges, the momentum behind medical drone technology continues to build.
“Every [test] flight is taking us closer to actually getting this technology established and adopted for the NHS,” Ms Bell says.
Project Caelus next steps and the future of drones
One of the next steps will be designing a practical infrastructure for drone operations. Ms Smith envisions drone landing hubs at major hospitals to make the system as autonomous as possible.
“You don’t want to tie up NHS staff just to charge and release a drone,” she says. “The idea is to have automated landing stations, which could provide weather protection, security and even charging capabilities.”
For now, those involved in Project Caelus are focused on securing further funding and regulatory approvals to continue their work. Ms Smith confirmed, “We’re currently seeking supplementary grant funding to continue the work until regulations allow us to fly in services commercially.”
Despite the obstacles, the outlook is optimistic. Ms Dempsey sums it up: “Work that still needs to be done feels quite far away. But in actual fact, it also feels as though we’ve never been as close. We’re closer than we’ve ever been.”
Conversation