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Drone Transport Initiative:

How co-creation, relationships and technology could bridge gaps in rural medicine

Presented by: Ms. Sandy Lee

Senior Project Manager, Faculty of Medicine

We are grateful for the Stellat’en and Nadleh Whut’en First Nations for allowing us to plan and operate the DTI project on their territories.

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Project from the community’s perspective

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Stellat’en First Nation & Village of Fraser Lake:

Located in North Central BC (165 kms NW from PG)
Population of Fraser Lake is ~1000
Population of Stellat’en First Nation is ~200
Connected by Highway 16
Geographic inequity

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Co-creating Solutions

Partnership with Stellat’en First Nation & Village of Fraser Lake to identify opportunities and solutions
Host communities set out the following project values:

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Innovation Design

12-month demonstration project, between Oct 2021 to Oct 2022
Completed 1200+ flights, delivered medication, transportation of dangerous goods approval, diagnostic accreditation review
Executed in partnership:

�Project funded through donors: TD Ready Challenge, LifeLabs, UBC Strategic Investment Fund, Canadian Healthy Communities, Canfor, Air-Canada, Donations from UBC Giving Day

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Impact

"I think what was admirable was the number of people involved....and to all the people on the ground to make this project go ahead. It was a diverse pocket of people that made this thing work because it’s so novel, right? It's brand new, and then also the other thing was the acceptance by the community itself to allow it to go ahead and not to have too many issues with it, so that was a good thing"

- Chief Robert

Community members wanted their community to participate in the DTI again

Partnership is the cornerstone to the successes in executing the DTI in a short timeline

Longitudinal data offers a predictive model that informs future drone project implementation �

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Opportunities

Need to develop fit-for-purpose technology that can weather Canadian context (e.g. connectivity, vast land mass, climate extremes)
A software interface that is agnostic to the drone technology is required for the initiative to be successfully scaled in other areas
Need for interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainable funding model for work to become scalable

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Next Steps:

Summer 2024 – new drone policies unlocking opportunity for beyond visual line of sight & drone roadway in complex airspace

Phase 2 will take a three-prong approach across a three-year timeline:

2A – coordinate drone delivery across a network of neighbouring communities and expand the menu of cargo.
2B – Unlock the northern corridor with PG airport to create a flight path from the airport to the hospital
2C – emergency response initiatives

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Thank you

https://dronetransport.med.ubc.ca/

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