Drones may serve as an avenue for patients with difficulties in accessing healthcare to obtain their basic healthcare needs, as well as provide immediate aid after a natural disaster. 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, which is extremely useful in providing aid in the event of a disaster. 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 northeastern 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 patients with difficulties in accessing healthcare, for example, people living in 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 of 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, patients facing challenges in accessing medications, such as those living in 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, leading to a breach of privacy and security. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-humanitarian-summit-nepal-drones-idUSKCN0Y7003
Locke, J. (2021, February 20). Can Drones Be Hacked, Tracked, and Used to Carry Passengers? Digi International. https://www.digi.com/blog/post/can-drones-be-hacked-tracked-and-carry-passengers
Solada, K., Daniels, S., & Earle, S. (n.d., n.d. n.d.). The Impacts of Earthquakes – Principles of Earth Science. Open Oregon Educational Resources. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/earthscience/chapter/9-4-the-impacts-of-earthquakes-2/
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