Drones Will Modernize the Healthcare Industry, Says Stampede President Kevin Kelly

The drone revolution that’s sweeping the globe is revolutionizing every commercial market and the healthcare industry is no exception, asserts Kevin Kelly, President & COO of Stampede, North America’s leading provider of ProAV solutions. With high-speed capabilities and the latest telecommunication technology, drones have the capacity to help save lives on an unprecedented scale, modernizing how emergency situations are handled in both individual and community-wide cases. 

“The healthcare industry is under pressure to modernize and update just about every area of its operations, from the delivery of new treatment protocols to record management to assisting in case-by-case emergency situations,” Kelly said. “Drones will play a major role in modernizing healthcare in ways that we are just starting to understand.”

Drones are already being tested in the medical field with the delivery of vaccines, medications and supplies to remote locations. Matternet, a smart drone transportation manufacturer, conducted its first field trials in Haiti by successfully delivering small packages to a camp devastated by the 2010 earthquake that brought the country to its knees. “This one instance proved that drones have significant implications in the delivery of medicine,” Kelly said. “When road vehicles cannot reach a devastated area, drones can be used to bring medicine and supplies to people in need.”  

Global drone use in the medical field is spreading. According to Quartz, the World Health Organization and the government of Bhutan teamed up with Matternet this year to build a network of low-cost quadcopters to connect the country’s main hospitals with rural communities. “With only .3 physicians per 1,000 people, healthcare is a serious problem for the Bhutanese population,” Kelly said. “Matternet’s quadcopters can carry loads of up to four pounds across 20 km at a time, which makes a substantial difference in delivering medicine to the community.”

Drones have also been tested for use in individual emergency situations. In the Netherlands, Alec Momont, an engineering student at TU Delft in Delft, designed an “ambulance drone” specifically developed to combat the high mortality rate of cardiac arrest victims. According to Slate, the “ambulance drone” is capable of traveling at speeds up to 60 mph, and is fully equipped with an on-board camera, which allows a remote operator to talk to a victim and provide emergency instructions to whoever is with the victim on the ground. “According to Momont, a drone’s speedy response time and on-scene assistance capabilities could increase cardiac arrest survival rates to more than 80 percent,” Kelly emphasized. “And that’s a significant number.”

While the FAA has not yet extensively tested medical drone use in the United States, they are in the process of developing standards and guidelines for the safe and legal use of drones in commercial applications, in ways that do not violate an individual’s right to privacy, says Kelly.

“When approved, drones will have the ability to serve as life-saving and life-giving resource for a healthcare industry increasingly challenged to find new, safe, and cost-effective ways to deliver much needed medicine to remote locations, gather data needed to assist medical personnel in an unfolding crisis, and provide information to an individual trying to assist someone in need,” Kelly said. “In a very real way, drones are just what the doctor ordered to help modernize the global healthcare industry.” 

Panama City Classroom Makes WHOOSH!® Screen Shine An Every Day School Supply!

At Deer Point Elementary School in Panama City, Florida, teacher Will Weatherly invested in a full-proof solution to keep students healthy and classroom tablets clean. After years of teaching, Weatherly knows that dirty tablet and computer screens make for a very “germy” situation that’s unhealthy for students, teachers and families. So, he turned to WHOOSH!® Screen Shine – an all-new, non-toxic Screen Shine solution that’s proven to keep screens clean while leaving a nano-thin, invisible layer that resists dirt build-up, smudges and fingerprints.

“I depend on WHOOSH! Screen Shine to keep our classroom tablets clean and shining like new,” Weatherly said. “We use WHOOSH! twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. So far, none of my students have been sick!”

In Weatherly’s class of nine children, each student has their own Apple® iPad device along with a caddy of the usual classroom items like scissors, pens, and markers. Now, it also includes WHOOSH! Screen Shine.

“Each student has their own bottle of WHOOSH!. They spray Screen Shine onto the screen and wipe it down with the micro-fiber antimicrobial cloth,” Weatherly said. “I completely trust that WHOOSH! is safe for them to use.”

“Tech hygiene”, says Weatherly, is a growing concern as the “Bring Your Own Device” practice becomes increasingly more prevalent in K-12 classrooms. Tablets, used frequently in classrooms around the world, carry a significant amount of germs. Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the University of London indicates that 82 percent of mobile phones have some form of bacterial contamination.  Like washing your hands, keeping your screens and devices clean is necessary to help maintain good cleanliness and reduce the risk of cross contamination.

“Teachers swear by it, kids have fun spraying it, and parents are purchasing it. WHOOSH! does a phenomenal job taking care of the screens,” Weatherly added. “I recommend it for every classroom.”

WHOOSH! Screen Shine® is made with non-toxic, surfactants as opposed to harsh chemicals, making it entirely classroom-friendly. WHOOSH! does not contain alcohol, acids, ammonia, chlorine, petroleum distillates, phosphates or volatile organic compounds, meaning that parents and teachers need not to worry about any “uh-oh” accidents when left in the hands of students.

The solution cleans dirty screens and leaves an ultra-thin invisible coating that resists dirt build-up, smudges, and fingerprints. This ensures that screens will remain clean – an added bonus during a busy school day.

WHOOSH! Screen Shine is currently available in 3 sizes at www.whooshscreenshine.com: Pocket (.3 fluid ounce) for $5.99, Go (1 fluid ounce) for $9.99, and Duo (one 3.4 fluid ounces and one .3 fluid ounce) for $19.99. All sizes come with a 6”x6” WHOOSH! micro-fiber antimicrobial cloth. WHOOSH! is currently available for sale in Apple retail stores, Fry’s Electronics, Adorama Camera and at many wireless stores across North America, as well as online at apple.com and Amazon.com.

WHOOSH! Screen Shine is also available for the commercial, industrial, hospitality and education markets in a 24 fluid ounce bottle and a 5-gallon pail. WHOOSH! is currently available for the commercial market through various distributors including Stampede Presentation Products.