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In 2016, Rwanda teamed up with a drone company to deliver blood to remote health facilities. Eight years later, two London hospitals are preparing to start a six-month trial of urgent blood sample deliveries to overcome a different problem: city traffic. Delivering blood samples from Guy’s Hospital to St Thomas’ Hospital takes around 30 minutes by road but less than two minutes by drone, according to a hospital official, who said a drone can deliver up to 20 blood samples per flight. The pilot programme, with drones operating up to 10 flights a day, will be run with Apian (a UK startup), Alphabet’s drone company Wing and the Civil Aviation Authority. Next step? An Irish drone company is already operating commercial deliveries across Dublin – you might not need a drone to deliver lattes into your garden, but it’s happening.
