Flying Ambulance Drone

Drones may have earned an early reputation as either military weapons or aerial photography assistants, but it looks like that might’ve been just scratching the surface of their potential.

Case in point, this flying ambulance drone created by Belgian engineering graduate, Alec Momont. The video demo is great at showing what could be the way of the future: a man suffers a heart attack, his daughter calls emergency services, and the drone is sent flying to her location. Once it gets there, the operator speaks to her through the drone and instructs her to set up defibrillator pads on his chest, while the drone does the rest. The early prototype can send this flying medical toolbox out at 60 mph within a range of 4.6 square miles, effectively reducing the average response time for emergency services from about 10 minutes to just one. It looks like the device will cost about $15,000 once it gets the OK.