NEWS
The CapRAC Healthcare Preparedness Coalition deployed its Medical Support Unit (MSU) Trailer with generator to serve as a mobile command center, a radio package and several cooling/misting fans to help combat the 90+ degree temperatures for the launch of the WakeMed drone program.
WakeMed teamed up with the NC Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation and Swiss company Matternet to launch the first medical drone delivery in the U.S. under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Integration Pilot Program. Test drone flights were held at WakeMed Raleigh Campus August 29 through August 31. These initial test drone flights will carry simulated medical packages from Raleigh Medical Park on Sunnybrook Road, up and over the Andrews Center and to a drop-off location at Raleigh Campus.
Developing healthcare-related uses for drones will improve speed of deliveries, enhance access to care and create healthier communities. In the next two years, WakeMed hopes to move medical material by drone to other facilities in a 12-mile radius.