Drones are nothing new. They’ve been available to the public for the past couple of years at the least, and they’ve been in the hands of the military and private companies for years. Using drones for commercial purposes, however, is something that has yet to get off the ground, even though Amazon is working to develop delivery drones for products purchased through its website. By discovery of a recently awarded patent, it looks as if Google may be looking into setting up delivery of medical aid through drones, which would be a more honest pursuit than drone delivery for purchased consumer goods, although that would also be a very useful and convenient service.
While an awarded patent is far from making Google’s idea a reality, it suggests that the company is serious about getting such a system in place, and could perhaps be a way to set up disaster relief for victims in areas which may not otherwise have access to help or medical supplies. Having drones deliver aid would also alleviate any potential risk of harm to someone else entering a dangerous area to help those who are already there and in need. That’s also just one possibility of how these drones could be used, as they could also be of assistance in times when someone simply might be waiting on help from paramedics to show up with the needed supplies.
Based on the patent details and diagrams, Google would employ the use of portable boxes that would allow a person to request medical aid while also listing off the reason for the needed assistance as well as what supplies were required to amend the situation. Once the box processes the request it could send that data to wherever the drone was coming from, the drone would potentially be piloted by an individual or it could fly out on its own with a pre-directed path to the location of the needed help, based on location finding through WiFi, cell networks, or landlines, while also alerting medical dispatchers to get professional emergency help sent out. It could also assist with video guidance in showing how to use the supplies if the person who requested them wasn’t aware of the proper technique. Google has also laid out the possibility that they could produce multiple types of drones that would be fitted for different situations and different locale so that the drones were able to help people in as many situations as possible.
