Drone route could solve delivery speed dilemma for organ donor samples

In organ and tissue donation, every second counts. St. Louis-based Mid-America Transplant and the Valkyrie Uncrewed Aerial System Solutions think drones will help identify potential donors sooner.

Each year, about 80 families authorize a blood test to determine if their loved one is eligible to donate organs and tissue, according to Mid-America Transplant. The blood test is part of a two-pound kit that has to get to Mid-America Transplant's St. Louis lab as soon as possible.

The pair are proposing an establishment of a drone corridor that would allow samples to get from Springfield to Mid-America Transplant's lab in St. Louis more quickly than by car and for less money than by plane. According to Kevin Lee, Mid-American Transplant president and CEO, it costs about $11,000 for a turboprop plane to fly the sample to St. Louis.

One of the eight-foot fixed-wing drones Valkyrie UAS Solutions uses would get it there for $1,200.

"The early estimates from the Valkyrie team is that we're looking at about $1,200 and the upper range could be $1,500 as we develop the use-case, but we believe it's a nine- to ten-fold savings," Lee said.

A 75 mile trip that would take a car about an hour-and-a-half would take a drone 36 minutes.

The drones can fly continuously for about 100 miles on one battery charge and are operated by remote pilot via a laptop. The drone's modular nature makes repairs feasible, says Ty Harmon, chief strategy officer for Valkyrie UAS Solutions, and the lifespan of a drone is estimated to be about 5 to 6 years of use. In Africa, the same drones last about a year, as they operate daily transporting medicine, medical supplies and vaccines.

"This is not anything that is novel or new, it's just's happening in other parts of the world," Harmon said. "We have the same people and many of the same needs here in the United States."

The project is still in planning stages, with next steps including identifying an exact route from Springfield to St. Louis and getting FAA approval for the flight corridor. Mid-America Transplant and Valkyrie UAS Solutions will also be collaborating and discussing the project with groups like emergency medical service providers.

Harmon anticpates the project will go live in late 2025. As drone technology continues to improve, there's also hope that they may be able to accomodate organs for transplant, as well.

Possibilities for improving rural health care

It's no secret that rural areas face many challenges when it comes to health care — organizations in the Ozarks have been trying to work to address the factors that impact whether someone can access care. Jordan Valley Community Health Center works to create hubs where people can receive multiple modalities of care at once; Webster County Health Department has a mobile unit that visits rural communities for basic things like vaccinations and blood draws.

Harmon and Lee both see potential in the drones to further improve health care in rural areas, especially when it comes to organ donation.

"There are roughly 80,000 people that are on the kidney transplant list today, but the estimation of need is closer to 800,000. Some of those challenges are that in order to be on the transplant list, are you complying with monthly lab requirements and have access to those labs on a regular basis?" Harmon said.

Drones have applications beyond just organ transplant: In Texas, the drones carry anti-venom, vaccines, automated external defribrillators, Epi-Pens, and other medications, Harmon said.

Harmon also noted if Missouri put five drone hubs in place, all the state's rural health care centers could have needed support from the drones.

More: MU study says rural health care is changing. Those in the Ozarks know first-hand

Drone corridor may also bring economic development

The trip from Springfield to St. Louis is more than 100 miles, which means halfway through the drones will need to stop to swap out batteries. However, this also brings an opportunity for economic development into rural communities.

"We seee this as an economic development opportunity, because if we're putting this in small communities across the country, then we're able to bring jobs to those areas as well," Harmon said. "We need pilots and ground operation crews moving forward."

Harmon estimates about $700,000 worth of labor will go into establishing one of those hubs, which includes ground operations crews and related positions. He added that the salary range for drone operators is $70,000 to $100,000.

"At the end of the day, (this operation) is comparable to a county ambulance service in terms of its overall cost for equipment and people," Harmon said. "In our model, we'll put anywhere from about $650,000 to $850,000 in real jobs into these communities, which are game-changing for Artesia, New Mexico, or Alpine, Texas, or Rolla."

Harmon's organization also partners with rural schools to teach rigging, manufacturing and avionics — skills that will be marketable as drones become more commonplace.

Partnering with schools to explain and teach about drones also serves another purpose: Increasing awareness.

"If you get the schools and communicate with the schools, then the chance of somebody pulling out a 14-gauge shotgun and shooting down your drone is much less," Harmon said. "Community outreach is critical: Making sure people know we're here to help and not to spy."

Susan Szuch reports on health and food for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Drone route could solve delivery speed dilemma for organ donor samples