The City of Brussels has greenlit a project aimed at examining the feasibility of using drones in medical emergencies. Brussels mayor Philippe Close and federal mobility minister François Bellot announced the project in a press statement released on Tuesday.
The Take Care Emergency project, which will be carried out in close collaboration with the city’s emergency services, will investigate how drones might be used to transport defibrillators in situations when speed is of the essence, for instance, when someone is having a heart attack. The survival chances of someone who has a heart attack decrease with 10% with every minute they go without treatment.
It is not uncommon for ambulances in Brussels to waste precious minutes while trying to navigate the city’s dense traffic.
“It’s important that Brussels continue to remain open to new technologies and improvements that can save more lives and speed up interventions,” Close said in the press release. “Brussels is showing itself in its best light by demonstrating that we are able to innovate and by anticipating on the use of drones to save lives.”
No commune has a higher number of hospitals on its territory in Belgium than the City of Brussels.
Linda A. Thompson
The Brussels Times
