Exploring the role of quadcopter technology in enhancing healthcare access in remote Himalayan Regions: a case study of Almora, Uttarakhand.

Abstract

Quadcopters are employed in diverse civil applications, ranging from monitoring airports and disaster management to serving as public address systems for announcing government directives, aiding in infrastructure monitoring for resilience, and facilitating real-time automobile detection, among others. Nevertheless, the utilization of quadcopters and hexacopters for delivering health assistance to remote and intriguing grounds has garnered comparatively less attention and research worldwide. This paper presents the basics of quadcopter machinery in delivering medications and highlights its benefits for concerned patients who previously struggled to access life-saving medications due to challenging road infrastructure. The efficiency of quadcopters in terms of various parameters for delivering crucial medical supplies is significantly pronounced, particularly in the Almora District of Uttarakhand State, where many villages do not have roads to various villages. A comprehensive analysis of the road infrastructure in the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas in India was conducted to understand the situation of individuals who are denied of access to life-saving medications because of the lack of nearby roads. The findings indicate that the widespread use of quad/hexacopters can offer a ray of optimism to people living in distant areas. The quadcopter can provide basic facilities of medicines by dropping them at their doorsteps in the remote places of Almora, not accessed by Uttarakhand, thereby providing hope of living to the people.