Unmanned aerial vehicles and pre-hospital emergency medicine

Katy Surman; David Lockey

doi:10.1186/s13049-024-01180-7

Unmanned aerial vehicles and pre-hospital emergency medicine

Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2024 Jan 29;32(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s13049-024-01180-7.

Authors

Katy Surman¹, David Lockey^{2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Bartshealth NHS Trust, London, UK.
² Bartshealth NHS Trust, London, UK. David.Lockey@nbt.nhs.uk.
³ Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University, London, UK. David.Lockey@nbt.nhs.uk.
⁴ London's Air Ambulance, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK. David.Lockey@nbt.nhs.uk.

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used in many industrial and commercial roles and have an increasing number of medical applications. This article reviews the characteristics of UAVs and their current applications in pre-hospital emergency medicine. The key roles are transport of equipment and medications and potentially passengers to or from a scene and the use of cameras to observe or communicate with remote scenes. The potential hazards of UAVs both deliberate or accidental are also discussed.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Aircraft*
Hospitals
Humans
Unmanned Aerial Devices*