Google wants to use drones to deliver emergency medical equipment

We know Google is very interested in drones, but the company wants to do more than just deliver packages with them, or so a recent patent seems to suggest. On Tuesday, the company was awarded a patent for a device that can summon drones carrying specific medical equipment, which seems to be related to a patent that was awarded to Google last year for a flying drone that can deliver life-saving technology during medical emergencies.

If you’re out in the park and someone has a heart attack, what do you do? Dialing 911 would be the most sensible option, but there’s no guarantee help will arrive in time. A new patent from Google suggests it may have a solution. A new patent awarded to Google today (April 5) outlines a device that can call for a drone to fly in with specific medical equipment. Last year, Google patented the idea of flying drones to medical emergencies with life-saving technology onboard, and now it seems the tech giant has a plan for how we would contact these drones. The device in today’s patent looks like a cross between an old HAM radio and one of the callboxes found on the sides of highways. Users would press a button for their specific medical emergency, and it would deploy a drone to the scene. According to the Google patent, this could save precious minutes in emergencies, such as an anaphylactic shock caused by an allergic reaction, or a heart attack. The autonomous drone could head right out to the emergency with a defibrillator or a shot of adrenaline on board.