North Carolina county using vertical-takeoff aircraft for 911 calls

“Paramedics in Hyde County, North Carolina, have begun using an electric vertical-takeoff aircraft to respond to 911 calls. The county is large, sparsely populated, and swampy, making it unusually hard to traverse by road. On one recent call, a paramedic flying a BlackFly eVTOL reached a patient 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived,” reports The Doomslayer.

FLYING Magazine reports:

Quinn Reece, a paramedic with Hyde County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in North Carolina, is not your average first responder.

Recently, Reece responded to a 911 call about 20 minutes faster than an ambulance. The seemingly impossible feat was enabled by a unique aircraft that lifts off vertically like a helicopter but tilts forward to fly on fixed wings…

The BlackFly’s pilot controls—comrpising a joystick, digital displays, and fly-by-wire system—are designed to be simple enough that a new pilot could master them within weeks or days. Pivotal said Hyde County paramedics completed more than 300 training and proficiency flights before Reece used the BlackFly to respond to real emergency calls under public aircraft operations (PAO).

The partners believe Hyde County is first in the nation to deploy eVTOL aircraft for real-world EMS. Officials dispatched the BlackFly for two calls, allowing Reece to begin advanced life support (ALS) while she and the caller waited for an ambulance.

Walmart is using drones to make deliveries to customers in more and more places

Tampa General Hospital is preparing to launch “the first drone system in the United States that delivers blood directly to the scene of traumatic injuries, allowing transfusions to begin on the spot. Average delivery times are expected to be under three minutes across the initial 70-square-mile service area,” reports The Doomslayer..

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Drones are saving lives in malaria-infested areas of western Kenya.

Schools are installing attack drones against shooters.

A tech firm is selling drones to businesses to help them catch thieves.

Drones are also transporting phlegm and saving stranded people.

Drones eradicate mice, and protect against life-threatening hazards.