How Do Dangerous Goods Regulations Apply to Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles Transporting Medical Cargos?
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Transportation Research Group, Boldrewood Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton S016 7QF, UK
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Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London, London SE1 9NH, UK
3
Skyports, Edinburgh House, 170 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, London SE11 5DP, UK
4
Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University Business School, D109 Dorset House, Fern Barrow, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Diego González-Aguilera
Drones 2021, 5(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020038
Received: 22 April 2021 / Revised: 7 May 2021 / Accepted: 11 May 2021 / Published: 13 May 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)
Commercial operations of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) are expanding, with medical logistics using UAVs as part of health service supply chains being targeted. The ability to transport cargos that include items classified as Dangerous Goods (DG) is a significant factor in enabling UAV logistics to assist medical supply chains, but DG regulations for air transport have developed from the perspective of crewed aircraft and not UAVs. This paper provides an important audit of the current DG regulations, best practice in their application and the development of much-needed new governance that will be required to fully exploit UAVs for the safe transport of DG in medical logistics. Findings from the audit provide a summary of the circumstances and potential challenges resulting from the application of DG regulations as they stand to UAV operations, particularly for medical logistics, and convenient guidance on the practical implications of DG regulations for UAV operators. The main conclusion is that this is an under-researched domain, not yet given full consideration in a holistic way by regulators, governments, industry bodies, practitioners or academia.
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Keywords:
UAV; drone; Dangerous Goods; regulations; logistics; medicine; healthcare
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MDPI and ACS Style
Grote, M.; Cherrett, T.; Oakey, A.; Royall, P.G.; Whalley, S.; Dickinson, J. How Do Dangerous Goods Regulations Apply to Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles Transporting Medical Cargos? Drones 2021, 5, 38. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020038
AMA Style
Grote M, Cherrett T, Oakey A, Royall PG, Whalley S, Dickinson J. How Do Dangerous Goods Regulations Apply to Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles Transporting Medical Cargos? Drones. 2021; 5(2):38. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020038
Chicago/Turabian StyleGrote, Matt; Cherrett, Tom; Oakey, Andrew; Royall, Paul G.; Whalley, Simon; Dickinson, Janet. 2021. "How Do Dangerous Goods Regulations Apply to Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles Transporting Medical Cargos?" Drones 5, no. 2: 38. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020038
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