P.E.I. leading study on how drones can help paramedics

Doctors Trevor Jain and Aaron Sibley were out flying a drone one day just for the fun of it when Sibley said it suddenly dawned on them: "This is something that could actually help us in our own careers as physicians who work with the paramedics."

Now, more than 120 paramedics and paramedics-in-training from across Atlantic Canada are taking part in a new study to determine how useful drones can be to paramedics in mass casualty situations.

As part of the study, some of those paramedics got a bird's-eye view Saturday of a simulated terrorist attack on Holland College in Charlottetown.

The footage was taken a few weeks ago by a drone. Paramedics looked at the fake carnage in search of potential hazards, injured people, and the best places to treat patients.  

Jain said the drone can give paramedics a more comprehensive view of the scene.

"You can identify hazards, you can identify where your resources need to go," he said.

"It's all about safety and time advantage."

The data from the exercise will be processed over the next few weeks, Jain said.  

Once they have the results, the goal is to send the information from the study to emergency responders so they can decide whether to use drones during mass casualty situations.

"There's a lot of people interested in this technology and it's awesome that Prince Edward Island can lead the way," Jain said.

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