MSS08: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES CAPABLE OF BLOOD TRANSPORTATION FOR THE US MILITARY
Jimmy Grandinette, MD; Sneha Singh, MD; Jason Brill, MD; Tripler Army Medical Center
Introduction: Expedited accessibility of blood products is essential when resuscitating service members with combat wounds. The ability to transport blood to meet this demand presents a logistics challenge. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used in recent conflicts for a multitude of purposes and may provide a reliable means of transporting blood to overcome the challenges of anti-access/area denial environments.
Objectives: This literature review summarizes all relevant and available data on blood delivery by drones, to analyze the specifications of drones that are currently approved by the Department of Defense (DoD) and assess which drones are potentially capable of blood transportation missions.
Methods: A systematic review was performed to identity available literature regarding UAVs involved with transport of blood. Key results from these articles were categorized by key search terms and summarized. The BlueUAS database was also included in this review to analyze drones with DoD approval.
Results: Forty-seven articles were found in peer-reviewed literature. Of these, 18 directly tested or analyzed results from blood transport and were thus included for summary. Several studies demonstrated delivery times faster than ground transport without impacts to product integrity. As of May 2024, BlueUAS lists 17 commercial systems. Eight have a modular payload ranging from a maximum carry capacity of 345g to 15kg. Notably, the product supporting the highest payload has a flight time of less than 14 minutes at this weight. The product supporting the longest flight time with a modular payload system capable of supporting at least one unit of blood can fly for 30 minutes with 2.3kg. While the mean weight of a unit of whole blood is 477g, this does not include the weight of insulation pods needed to maintain cold storage. Based on whole blood weight alone, a theoretical maximum of 30 units of whole blood could be transported by the system with the highest payload capacity. No studies to date described DoD transport of products in realistic training environments.
Conclusion: UAVs may prove key logistics connectors for blood products, but current payloads and flight times have significant limitations. Further study and testing in challenging environments is warranted.