{"id":19298,"date":"2021-08-29T14:50:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T14:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=19298"},"modified":"2021-08-29T14:53:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T14:53:45","slug":"first-vaccine-drone-delivery-program-demonstrated-in-winston-salem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/north-carolina\/first-vaccine-drone-delivery-program-demonstrated-in-winston-salem\/%20","title":{"rendered":"First Vaccine Drone Delivery Program Demonstrated in Winston-Salem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The UPS Flight Forward-operated drone is prepped for flight. Photos by Kim Stevens. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and its healthtech\nbusiness enterprise operated through the Innovation Quarter, iQ Healthtech\nLabs, are taking COVID-19 vaccination efforts to new heights with drone\ndeliveries \u2013 the first COVID-19 vaccine drone delivery program in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eric Bergesen, Director of Operations, UPS Flight Forward.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This new initiative \u2013 operated by UPS and its subsidiary,\nUPS Flight Forward\u2013 expands Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist\u2019s existing drone\nprogram that was launched in July 2020. A demonstration flight was held on\nAugust 25th<\/sup> at the health facility in Winston-Salem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When transporting the COVID-19 vaccines, the Matternet M2\ndrone is outfitted with a special cargo box that contains Cold Chain\nTechnologies\u2019 customized PCM Gel solution, a temperature-sensitive packaging\nmixture that maintains the COVID-19 vaccine at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, and a\ntemperature monitoring device that monitors the vaccine\u2019s temperature while in transit.\nThe customized cold chain packaging follows the Centers for Disease Control and\nPrevention (CDC) guidelines on the handling, storage and transportation of the\nCOVID-19 vaccine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Natalie Russell, Pharm.D., takes the vaccine to the drone operator. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The UPS Flight Forward-operated drone, which flies\nautonomously and produces zero operational emissions, has the capability to\ndeliver any of the COVID-19 vaccines from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist\nMedical Center to one of the health system\u2019s family medicine practices located\nat Piedmont Plaza.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ability and ingenuity to add an innovative layer to our\nhealth care supply chain by transporting COVID-19 vaccines via drone provides\nus with additional rapid delivery options for these time- and\ntemperature-sensitive vaccines,\u201d said Conrad Emmerich, senior vice president of\nsupply chain at Atrium Health. \u201cThe iQ Healthtech Lab team is committed to\npartnering with industry leaders, like UPS, to better advance healthtech\nsolutions into the marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Members of the media track the launched drone.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist was one of the first\nhealth care institutions in the country to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine\nvia UPS in December of 2020. To date, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has\nprovided nearly 100,000 total COVID-19 vaccinations to its employees, patients\nand members of the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDistributing and protecting the integrity of the COVID-19\nvaccine is our top priority and we\u2019ve successfully completed multiple test\nflights to ensure that the vaccine remains at the appropriate temperature\nthroughout transit,\u201d said Jennifer Tryon, Pharm.D., chief pharmacy officer at\nAtrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. \u201cThe ability to use a temperature monitoring\ndevice for our COVID-19 vaccine drone delivery program also opens the door for\nus to transport additional items which require maintenance of the cold chain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conrad Emmerich, senior vice president of supply chain at Atrium Health. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the past year, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist\nhas already expanded its environmentally sustainable drone services program to\ninclude lab samples, in addition to the specialty infusion and individually\ncompounded medications that have been delivered to patients since the program\u2019s\ninception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The autonomous flight is overseen by UPS Flight Forward\u2019s\nspecially trained operators who are stationed onsite to inspect the Matternet\nM2 aircraft prior to takeoff and scan the airspace for conflicting air traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe delivery of COVID-19 vaccines by drone is an exciting\nand important step for UPS as we continue our near-perfect vaccine service\ndelivery throughout the U.S. and around the world,\u201d said Dan Gagnon, vice\npresident of UPS Healthcare. \u201cWe\u2019re providing greater flexibility in how\ncustomers, and ultimately patients, receive temperature-controlled\npharmaceuticals, which will continue to provide long-term value within the\nhealth care industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Attending the August 25th flight are from left, Terry Hales, Wake Forest Baptist, Basil Yap, BEYOND Program Manager for NCDOT, Michael Baughan, Secretary, AeroX, and Kyle Mounts, AeroX Treasurer. <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

iQ Healthtech Labs was established in early 2020 by the\nInnovation Quarter to help coordinate partnerships between anchor institutions\nlike Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and industry leaders. The Labs focus on\nfive key sectors of healthtech: value and health transformation, virtual\nhealth, healthy aging, personalized care and precision medicine, and learning\nsystems. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and its healthtech business enterprise operated through the Innovation Quarter, iQ Healthtech Labs, are taking COVID-19 vaccination efforts to new heights with drone deliveries \u2013 the first COVID-19 vaccine drone delivery program in the country. This new initiative \u2013 operated by UPS and its subsidiary, UPS Flight Forward\u2013 expands Atrium […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-carolina","category-unmanned-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6932edit-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19298"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19310,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19298\/revisions\/19310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}