New Swoop drones could deliver more medical supplies to rural Victoria

Victorian hospitals will soon be able to use drones to transport urgent medical supplies to remote areas — a plan described as a “game changer” for the health industry.

A Melbourne drone manufacturer hopes to use its technology to deliver medical supplies to regional Victoria.

With its aircraft kite fifth-generation drones, which can hold up to 4kg of medical cargo and travel 170km at speeds of more than 120km/h, Port Melbourne company Swoop Aero has become a global leader in using the skies to deliver medical supplies to some of world’s most remote regions.

Swoop Aero chief executive Eric Peck is ready for his drones to help the Victorian health sector. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

And now it has turned its focus to partnering with the Victorian health sector to service remote communities.

Chief executive and co-founder Eric Peck said using drones to deliver from Melbourne to rural hospitals and homes could be a “game-changer”.

“With these drones, you won’t have to drive two or three hours to get medications when we can get it out to your local chemist,” he said.

The company has operated for six years in Africa, acting as a more cost-effective method to transport vaccines and blood samples.

“As the healthcare system in Australia and abroad faces pressures, and we’ve got ageing populations and greater healthcare needs of the populace over a broader area, that cost question is what’s going to drive this technology,” Mr Peck said.

“We can leverage the air and substantially reduce costs.”

Mr Peck said the next step was educating the health sector that the technology was “ready to go”.

The company has engaged with Bayside hospitals, which Mr Peck said would “cut out a long carbon-heavy ride around the bay with a short flight”.

Despite having a radius of about 170km, the company has been able to travel longer distances by setting up “halfway offices” to change over batteries to complete longer trips.

The company has operated for six years in Africa, acting as a more cost effective method to transport vaccines and blood samples throughout the continent.

The new aircraft kite fifth generation drone ready for take off. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Swoop conducts at least one emergency delivery of oxytocin to mothers in Malawi that have just given birth each week.

Mr Peck said the demand for the drone in technology in Africa was driven by escalating costs in that made it difficult to transport supplies through traditional methods.

A Swoop Aero drone in full flight. The aircraft can carry up to 4kg and travel at speeds of more than 120km/h. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“The fact it costs 50 time more to deliver a vaccine at the last mile than it does to produce that vaccine is what has driven this technology adoption,” he said.

“As the healthcare system in Australia and abroad faces pressures, we’ve got aging populations and greater healthcare needs of the populace of a broader area, that cost question is what’s going to drive this technology.

“We can leverage the air and substantially reduce costs.”

It’s predicted the Victorian healthcare network could be serviced with less than 60 flights a day. A government spokesman would not comment on whether it was open to investigating the initiative.

While drone regulations are are managed by the federal government, a Victorian government spokesperson said the government was always open to anything that could improve the health system.