Enterprise Drone ShipmentsBI Intelligence
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine partnered with Flirtey, a Nevada-based drone delivery startup, to conduct a recent test flight of a drone carrying medical supplies in Cape May, New Jersey, according to Fortune and The Detroit News.
About 100 observers were there to witness the test, including several members of the United Nations' humanitarian arm, according to Tech Crunch.
Drones could eventually deliver medical supplies to stranded victims of natural disasters, helping aid organizations get supplies to victims more quickly. If roads and bridges are unusable, drones could deliver small, life-saving packages of medical supplies like vaccines, George Fenton, director of humanitarian innovations at World Vision International, a humanitarian aid organization, told The Detroit News.
Many agencies involved in disaster relief agree that drones have already been very helpful in collecting data and taking photos of damage from disasters, such as during Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
The test involved delivering a package of medicine and medical testing materials from an offshore vessel to an onshore location, marking the first time a drone has completed such a flight in the US, according to Fortune. Many disaster-prone areas are close to shores, where hurricanes, typhoons, and flooding are more common, making deliveries from offshore vessels a likely scenario for disaster relief operations using drones. 
However, there are still concerns with using drones to deliver medical supplies. For example, blood samples carried by a drone could easily be ruined by vibrations or movement, Dr. Timothy Amukele, a co-organizer of the test, noted in an interview with The Guardian. Despite this, Amukele believes that in five years drones will be used regularly in disaster relief, as organizations and regulators will have a clear understanding of what types of medical supplies drones can deliver safely.
US regulations do not yet allow for long-range drone deliveries without a special waiver from the FAA. However, the FAA may be more willing to grant waivers for drone deliveries involving medical supplies because they could potentially save lives. Gaining regulatory approval for more use cases for drones will be an important factor in driving growth in the US commercial drone market.