Using drones to bring lifesaving medical supplies closer to home

As a family doctor who has dedicated his career to supporting patients living in British Columbia’s rural, remote and Indigenous communities, Dr. John Pawlovich understands the unique challenges of delivering healthcare beyond B.C.’s urban borders.

“Healthcare services and medical supplies in rural, remote and Indigenous communities are often much more limited and difficult to access, and this contributes directly to some of the health inequities we see among patients living in these areas compared to other parts of B.C.,” says Dr. Pawlovich, the Rural Doctors’ UBC Chair in Rural Health.

It’s this inequity gap that drives Dr. Pawlovich and UBC’s Faculty of Medicine to work in close partnership with these communities to co-create innovative solutions to improve access to care and help transform health for everyone. 

Recently — in one of the first projects of its kind in Canada — the Faculty collaborated with the Stellat’en First Nation, the Village of Fraser Lake and a variety of health partners to demonstrate the real-world power of drone technology to help shrink the inequity gap and bring medical supplies closer to home.

Known as the Drone Transport Initiative, the year-long project undertook more than 1,200 drone flights carrying everything from lifesaving equipment to medical supplies between Stellat’en First Nation and the Village of Fraser Lake, located nearly 150 kilometres west of Prince George.

“With this project, together we were able to show that drones can be successfully integrated into the healthcare system in remote and Indigenous communities, helping to complement virtual health and in-person care and further reduce or even eliminate the need for residents to travel long distances outside of their community,” says Dr. Pawlovich, one of the project’s co-sponsors.

According to Robert Michell, Chief of the Stellat’en First Nation, the Drone Transport Initiative has done much more than demonstrate the important role technology can play in supporting equitable access to healthcare.

He says it has also helped to reenergize an existing relationship with the neighbouring Village of Fraser Lake, and instil a sense of pride among community members.

“We’re proud to be among the first communities to embed drone technology into our healthcare services, and are excited that other First Nations communities will look to us in the years ahead,” says Chief Michell.

The project, completed in 2022, also revealed the power of partnership.

“Without question, one of the greatest achievements of the Drone Transport Initiative has been the strengthening of partnerships and relationships between the many people, organizations and communities across northern B.C. and beyond who have been involved in the project and instrumental to its success,” says Dr. Pawlovich.

Today, findings from the Drone Transport Initiative are sparking interest from other regions around the world, ranging from Nunavut to the Solomon Islands. A second phase of the project is currently in development, with the goal of one day extending the reach of the initiative to other regions of B.C. and across Canada.

UBC’s Drone Transport Initiative was supported by a TD Ready Challenge Grant.