Zipline is a California based startup that is aiming to start delivery of blood and medicine using drones in the remote parts of the United States. The company already uses drones for delivering blood and medicines to remote regions of Rwanda. Zipline International launched this service in 2014 with financial aid from Sequoia Partners, Google Ventures and Paul Allen, a Microsoft co-founder. The service is Rwanda has come into effect since last month and by next month, the service will flourish to half of the country, as claimed by Zipline.
After rendering the drone service in Rwanda, the company is planning to set up the drone delivery program to certain communities of Maryland, Nevada and Washington and Native American Reservations. “When you look at rural or isolated communities, particularly Native American populations, populations that live on islands, you have serious health outcome inequalities,” says Keller Rinaudo, Zipline’s founder and CEO. “There’s a linear relationship between how far away you live from a city and your expected lifespan. So our hope is that this type of technology can solve those kinds of inequalities.”
The drones will be called Zips. The Zips have the capability to carry up to three pounds of blood and medicine, and can fly for up to 75 miles on a single charge. Hospitals can order blood and medicine via text messages. Zips will port the medicine to the destinations via parachute. The 22-pound planes navigate using GPS and cellular networks, and can make deliveries within 30 minutes, negating the need for onboard refrigeration.
Leave a Reply