Leonardo, Telespazio and Rome’s Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital have started experimenting with the transportation of medical supplies using vertical take-off and electric powered drones.

An ambulance transports supplies daily from and to the Santa Marinella and Palidoro laboratory testing clinics of the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital. All too often, however, the ambulance makes very slow progress, being hindered by heavy traffic volumes. And yet it carries a very urgent load: blood samples – from many children – which must be analysed as quickly as possible and the results communicated to the doctors who have made treating these children their life’s work.

When it comes to children – especially suffering children – even the hardest things become more feasible; bureaucracy and regulations often find innovative solutions to remove obstacles, and what seemed impossible becomes first possible, and then reality.

Thanks to Leonardo's initiative and Telespazio's innovative technology, T-Dromes, which will allow the drone to fly the 32km distance in complete safety, well beyond the operator's field of vision, the two locations of the Bambino Gesù Hospital could be connected through the use of a drone.