Anyone who looked up last Tuesday to the airspace of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center and the Sha’ar Menashe Mental Health Center might have encountered not only gliding birds, but also a special glider carrying laboratory samples directly to Hillel Yaffe’s laboratories in Hadera.
The study was conducted in collaboration with the Division of Government Medical Centers Hillel Yaffe and Sha’ar Menashe as part of the pilot program of the Innovation Authority and in collaboration with the National Skimmers Project, Ayalon Routes and the Civil Aviation Authority (RTA).
The study, led by Dr. Ma’anit Shapira, director of the laboratories department of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, enlisted 30 staff members from Shaar Menashe, who volunteered to provide various tests, including routine chemistry tests, blood counts, coagulation tests and urine tests.
Two samples were taken from each test: one sample was transferred by routine transportation (vehicle), and a second sample was sent by skimmer to Hillel Yaffe’s laboratories. The collected samples were packed in an insulated package and placed in a dedicated container locked by a code, connected to a glider that transported the shipment to the destination point. The skimmers, which belong to FlightOps, have been adapted to carry deliveries of about 2 kg for a distance of up to 25 km.
Shapira notes: “Sending laboratory tests between medical centers is a common and common process, and we provide a wide range of services to medical and inpatient institutions in the area. “The patient. Undoubtedly, this is a tool that, if we can work with in a routine way, will bring significant meaning to both the patients and the staff in the medical institutions.”
Dr. Dudu Dagan, Head of the Government Medical Centers Division, adds: “I welcome the innovative experiment and find in this solution a future promise for rapid transport of drugs, laboratory tests and essential equipment for the medical centers, and especially those in the periphery, so that all residents of Israel will receive Quality, safe and fast treatment at all times. ”