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January 9, 2018
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January 11, 2018
Meet Zipline: Saving lives with drones
The Nairobi Garage was delighted to host Zipline, the first and only company in the world that uses drones to save lives during our MEET event last Friday. In case you missed it, this should help loop you in on the amazing technology that is surrounding us.
What does Zipline do?
Save lives using drones? How you might ask? Well, Zipline is an American company that has specialized in the making and operating of drones to offer lifesaving medical products that are on demand. Zipline’s main aim is to deliver these products to areas that cannot access the products easily due to factors such as poor terrain. The products that the drones deliver range from blood products such as Plasma; Vaccines i.e. oxytocin; HIV & TB treatments; Vaccines to many others depending on the need for the commodity.
Zipline currently operates in one African country, Rwanda. Rwanda is actually the first country in the world to implement drone delivery services for healthcare. In March, Zipline is set to launch its 5th drone version in Rwanda. Zipline will be opening up 4 sites this year in Tanzania.
The speaker for the evening, Yaniv Gelnik, who is Zipline’s Africa Lead, said that the company has exactly three missions:
- Improve health in terms of enabling patients to receive quick solutions to their illnesses
- Reduce waste: The fact that a drone is being used to ship the products in a time frame of 12 minutes maximum, means there’s no room for the product to expire as opposed to the use of vehicles, bicycles etc.
- Transform logistic systems; Use of drones makes the product in demand reach the area of need quickly and in good condition.
Yaniv explained that in Rwanda, Zipline has been able to deliver products to half of the hospitals in Rwanda, 7 days a week, without fail. He explained that 50% of the blood transfusions benefit women who have undergone bleeding after birth. Impressive stuff!
How it works
Zips are ideally 2 meters long. They can only carry loads that are not heavier than 1.5 kilograms. They travel at a speed of 100km/h and can travel up to a range of 160 kilometers.
Ideally, a health facility that is in need of any product can make the order to Zipline via mobile. The product is then dispatched onto the drone that is self-driven by the way. Once the product is loaded onto the drone, the drone is fired off by a catapult and flies to the set location. When near location, Zipline notifies recipients of the drop off package and the drone drops it off. Oh, and please do note that these drones do not have cameras installed in them, due to security reasons of course.
So far, Zipline has managed to make 4000 deliveries with 50% of those deliveries having saved lives. The company has managed to cater to half of the hospitals in Rwanda with quality products.
Zipline hopes to set up shop in Kenya this year and we here at the Garage wish all the best in it’s journey!
Are you looking for other amazing events to attend? Check out the events that we have lined up for you here.
