A fleet of 10 drones will be used to fly time-critical pathology samples from the Moreton Bay area to Brisbane’s Mater Hospital testing labs.

It’s predicted the Swoop Aero drones could carry around 80,000 samples to the labs in Springfield from the region.

The proposal is for a drone trial, which will begin in 2023, and include a fleet a 10 drones.

It would only take 50 minutes to get to the lab, instead of waiting hours for a ferry.

Mater Pathology general manager Deb Hornsby explained more about the space-age proposal.

“It was born out of the COVID pressure, in particular for the Moreton Bay island area where the urgent samples are very dependent on the ferry times,” she told Laurel, Gary and Mark.

“So for example, the Moreton Bay islands have an elderly population on them.

“If they require [coagulation] testing … for those type of tests they are time sensitive.”

Press PLAY below to hear more about the proposal

Image: Swoop Aero