“Drones May Become ‘The Next Big Thing’ In Healthcare Delivery” by Balasubramanian (2022), discusses the benefits and potential of drones in the healthcare industry. Historically, technology has always been utilized to surpass human limits. An example of this in modern times is drones. Despite the original intended usage in the aerial or military sector, innovations have integrated the use of drones into the healthcare industry. An example would be the delivery of medical supplies through drones. Drones, being compact aerial vehicles, allow the bypassing of ground traffic while still maintaining maneuverability through city infrastructure, and they are also able to reach difficult-to-access areas. This helps to facilitate and quicken the delivery of medical supplies to patients facing challenges in access to healthcare or to patients in dire emergency situations. The widespread usage of drones in various industries guarantees funding from large corporations towards the research and development of drones. There is then a strong possibility for drones to bring about a revolution in the healthcare industry, particularly regarding timely healthcare delivery and measurable healthcare outcomes.
Drones may serve as an avenue for patients with difficulties in accessing healthcare to obtain their basic healthcare needs, and also expedite the delivery of crucial medical supplies to emergency situations. However, there are many experts who have concerns over the privacy and security surrounding the flying of drones in the community.
With the mobility that drones possess, they are able to bypass the terrain to access hard-to-reach areas. This particular capability of drones can be life-saving, as drones can be used to provide aid in the event of a natural disaster that results in mass destruction in the surroundings. An example of such would be an earthquake. The violent shaking of earthquakes causes significant damage to the structure of buildings, which can lead to the collapse of buildings. As a result, the roads would be blocked by the rubbles, which means it would take a much longer time for help to arrive. By using drones, however, emergency supplies could be promptly delivered to those who are trapped and awaiting rescue, which significantly improves the odds of survival for these victims. Instances of such include the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2012 hurricane (Superstorm Sandy) that affected the north-eastern United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, the 2015 category 5 cyclone (Pam) that struck the islands of Vanuatu, and the 2015 earthquake (Gorkha) in Nepal (Sharma G., 2017; Howard B., 2015).
With the aforementioned capabilities of drones, they can also be used to deliver medical supplies to rural areas, especially where the terrain is difficult to traverse. Living in a rural, mountainous environment that experiences frequent, heavy snowfalls during the winter is difficult, and patients frequently run out of essential medicines. During the winter in 2015, southwest Virginia experienced a record-breaking 42 inches (1.07 m) of snow, and the National Guard had to be deployed into rural areas to deliver life-saving medications such as insulin (Gardner & Park, 2016). Using drones to deliver medications to these hard-to-reach communities is a much quicker, and more efficient method. By embracing drone technology, rural communities are then able to improve their own healthcare quality.
An issue holding back the implementation of drones, however, is the threat of hacking as well as concerns over privacy breaches through these drones. A drone may be hacked in the same manner as a computer, and hackers can get remote access to them from even a mile away (Kaspersky, n.d.). Drones are controlled through radio signals and these radio signals are often unencrypted, and can thus be easily intercepted. Once hackers gain control over the drones, they are then able to upload malicious software into the network, committing massive data theft, or even crippling the network itself to extort money in the form of a ransomware attack. The previously stated scenarios, however, can be prevented through multiple ways, such as regularly updating the drone’s firmware, using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), and also limiting the allowable number of connected devices to the base station to one (Kaspersky, n.d.).
To conclude, drones have the potential to greatly enhance the healthcare sector in the provision of care remotely to inaccessible patients, as well as expediting the delivery of crucial medical supplies to emergency situations. As long as security measures are well implemented and diligently adhered to, worries over privacy and security such as data breaches can be dispelled gradually through the display of consistent safe operation of these drones.
References
Balasubramaniam, S. (2022, January 9). Drones May Become ‘The Next Big Thing’ In Healthcare Delivery. Forbes. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/saibala/2022/01/09/drones-may-become-the-next-big-thing-in-healthcare-delivery/?sh=58295a6b1e9b
Gardner, T., & Park, B. (2016, December 6). Drone-delivered health care in rural Appalachia. Clinical Advisor. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/home/topics/practice-management-information-center/drone-delivered-health-care-in-rural-appalachia/
Howard, B. C. (2015, April 8). Vanuatu puts drones in the sky to see cyclone damage. National Geographic. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/&/2015/04/150406-vanuatu-cyclone-pam-relief-drones-uavs-crisis-mapping.
Kaspersky. (n.d., n.d. n.d.). Drones and security - What you need to know. Kaspersky. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/can-drones-be-hacked
Sharma, G. (2016, May 15). Armed with drones, aid workers seek faster response to earthquakes, floods. Reuters. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-humanitarian-summit-nepal-drones-idUSKCN0Y7003
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