Drone to deliver medical supplies as part of pilot program in Arizona

This summer a drone will deliver medical supplies in the City of Chandler, Arizona as part of a pilot program.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will take off from Omnicare and fly approximately 1.2 miles to the Sunrise of Chandler assisted living facility.

Ryan Kaup, Economic Development Project Manager for the City of Chandler, said that during the pilot program, the drone would make a trip to the assisted living facility in West Chandler carrying pills. This trip would take the drone five minutes.

“This is the first in the Valley to deliver medical supplies,” said Kaup.”It’s piloted, and there are cameras on the drone as well, but there is no video that’s recorded. There are a few benefits. One, it will take traffic off the roads, and there’s the sustainability aspect of it, so all of these drones will be electric.”

The Chandler City Council just recently gave their blessing to move forward with this pilot program, which includes entering into agreements with both the Maricopa Association of Governments and Airspace Link.

“We’re excited to try this out to see if this saves them time, and is quicker,” Kaup explained. “We’re planning on doing some more communication as we get closer to the initial test dates, expected to be this summer. So, we will be putting out some further press releases, as well as some notices to the neighborhood and businesses in the area before it happens.”

According to Kaup, the next step is to secure financial support for the project. According to him, the city won’t have to pay anything for this because MAG will provide the funding.

“Both of the partners involved, the pharmaceutical distributor and assisted living facility, have signed on as something they want to do and try, and they think this will be more efficient for them and they’re excited to see how the pilot plays out,” he reportedly said.

If everything goes according to plan, the program might be implemented in other parts of the city that is located in the East Valley.