SAN ANTONIO – About 117 Texans receive an organ transplant daily, while seven others die waiting for one, according to the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance.
A big obstacle that many patients in Texas face in securing an organ is the distance between their community and where the organs come from.
Drones could provide a revolutionary impact in health care by tackling transportation challenges and advancing rural health care.
“I’m blessed to still be here and talk to you about it. I am a two-time double-lung transplant recipient transplant in 2007 and again in 2010,” Tom Nate said.
Nate, who lives in Texas, had to uproot his life and move to another state just to improve the odds of getting an organ transplant.
“When I look back on this technology, I, you know, I’m fascinated by it. I’ve been reading about it for a couple of months, and that may have changed the whole trajectory of how I went through the process. Maybe not having to move or relocate to a town where nobody doesn’t know anything,” Nate said.
The Matador UAS Consortium aims to innovate rural health care services when it comes to organ donation.
“We’re attempting to use drones for long-range and sustainable flights to support rural health care and to ultimately move to be able to deliver the gift of life to the patients that need it most,” said Ty Harmon, co-founder of the consortium.
Using drones for medical purposes isn’t a new concept. A fourth generation drone has distributed 285,000 medical items across sub-Saharan Africa, which has helped millions of people.
TOSA officials hope the fifth generation of drones will become a reality.
“These drones are larger drones, but they still are in the same class as those little ones. What that means is we can fly these beyond visual line of sight, meaning that this drone specifically can go about 100 miles and travel about 80 mph and carry 12 pounds,” Harmon said.
Which means moving organs, vaccinations, drugs, emergency kits, and essential life-saving care quickly.
“We’re talking about going from a rural critical access facility or from the medical complex here out to rural communities. That could be to a clinic, that could be to a fire station, a volunteer fire station. It could be to another school nurse,” Harmon said.
All in an effort to save more lives, like Nate’s.
“I see this as just a major breakthrough in helping a lot of people that have to do the long This is relocation stuff that I do,” Nate said.
The drones need to undergo more testing and get FAA approval before the programs take effect.
TOSA is asking for more people to become organ donors. You can learn how to become one by visiting the TOSA website.