Drone Defibrillators Navigate Tough Terrain

Drone-powered defibrillators capable of navigating through tough terrain to areas unreachable by ambulance are close to being ready for real-world use.


Drone-powered defibrillators capable of navigating through tough terrain to areas unreachable by ambulance are close to being ready for real-world use.

German company Definetz has gotten together with Height-Tech, a drone maker, to engineer Defikopter, the unmanned emergency equipment delivery system.

In the event of an emergency in an area with compromised access, a caller could phone the dispatch and have a defibrillator dropped directly into their hands.

This expedited access to life-saving equipment is designed to buy victims time while they wait for professional medical help to arrive.

A Definetz spokesman explained, "Defikopter is one small supporting step towards an optimized responder structure. It's for sports areas like golf clubs, difficult terrain such as coasts or mountains, and rural areas with weak infrastructure."

Testing on the apparatus is coming to a close and the inventors are hoping to make it available within in the coming months.

At last report, the defibrillator-equipped drone weighs 10 pounds and can fly at a speed of almost 45 miles per hour. Its maximum travel distance is 6 miles.

Once available for purchase, the manufacturers estimate the price for the system will be somewhere around 40 thousand dollars.