As war deepens in Ukraine, rescue drones will be used to air deliver medical supplies and equipment to provide humanitarian aid inside cities under attack from Russia through the services of Revived Soldiers Ukraine, a nonprofit dedicated to helping injured soldiers and civilians.
Draganfly announced Tuesday it has received an order for 10 of its medical response and search and rescue drones, a number that could reach up to 200 units, to be used in Ukraine. The drone company is also donating three drone systems to RSU.
The order came from Coldchain Delivery Systems LLC of Texas which makes thermal shipping systems and related products. Draganfly’s drones are made in North America and will be equipped with a temperature-managed payload box that can transport up to 35 pounds of medical supplies, including blood, pharmaceuticals, insulin and other medicines, water and wound care kits. Draganfly has a history in drone rescue work going back to at least 2013.
“There is an urgent need for medical supplies and equipment in several dangerous and hard-to-reach areas” of Ukraine, said Iryna Vashchuk Discipio, president of RSU in a statement.
RSU was founded in 2015. To address the latest attacks, RSU recently purchased 10 ambulances and 11 cars and plans to use the drones for deliveries of supplies to hotspots in Kyiv and Kharkiv and elsewhere.
The nonprofit has a logistics network that includes support from medical facilities in the U.S., including at Yale, Cleveland Clinic, Metro Health, Mass General/Harvard, USC, Orlando Prosthetics and Orthotics Associates, Wills Eye Hospital, Brooks Rehabilitation Center and Miami University. RSU has 10 full time staff in Ukraine and 300 volunteers in the U.S. and Ukraine. Donations to RSU can be made online.
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