Win 20k€ in the Medical Drone Start-Up Challenge

Mobility Clubs worldwide are gearing up to enter the medical drone logistics industry. As an international network of non-profit entities with more than 80 million members worldwide and already delivering emergency services all over the world, we are positioned perfectly for that.

The next Mobility Club entering this area is the Royal Automobility Club South Australia (RAA). The RAA already has some expertise in the drone field, having used drones for natural disaster resilience projects. Due to the power of the FIA network and taking the lessons that other clubs have already learned, the next step is piloting medical drone services in South Australia in 2023.

Healthcare in Australia is under severe stress due to COVID fatigue of health professionals, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Drones can potentially provide a relief to that - from the in-time delivery of emergency blood products, the rapid deployment of defibrillators to an extension of Telehealth services already existing within the RAA.

The goal of the pilot project conducted in 2023 will be the evaluation of just-in-time-delivery of defibrillators to emergency sites in South Australia. It has been published that early defibrillation increases the chance of survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Time to treatment is critical for survival with every minute delay in defibrillation results in a 7% to 10% reduction in survival. Trials using drones have successfully been completed in Sweden in 2020, where the median time benefit of 1.52 min of drones arriving prior to the ambulances demonstrated a benefit, and in Canada where the use of drones for this case was declared feasible.

We will conduct this trial in any case. However, what we are looking for is you: Start-ups globally have innovative ideas that can be beneficial in this use case. Flying defibrillators to emergency sites is so much more than just a drone - it encompasses integration into a healthcare system and healthcare processes, interfacing with ambulances and other emergency services, integration into a populated airspace, taking care of community concerns and much more.

If you can find yourself reflected somewhere in this ecosystem and think "Our solution might just be of benefit for them" do not hesitate to enter our challenge:

• Did you develop an ultra-lightweight AED that would be perfect for drones?
• Do you have a new software acting at the interface between rescue service and drone service?
• Did you develop new processes or software for the exchange between drone and air traffic management?
• Do you have something that we would benefit from?
  

Then we would love to talk, and ultimately partner, with you. The winner of the challenge will receive a contract of 20.000 EUR for services rendered within the pilot project, will be given priority for the 2024+ implementation phase and will have the opportunity to engage with other FIA Clubs worldwide. The challenge is not restricted to start-ups in South Australia even though the pilot project will be conducted there.

Entries will be considered until 30. November 2022 EOD MEZ.