LEXINGTON, Ky. — Organizations are working together to transport needed personal protective equipment (PPE) to those in Eastern Kentucky and rural areas who may be isolated by the pandemic. 

USA Drone Port has now partnered up with the UK Center of Excellence in Rural Health and Kentucky Homeplace to explore using drones to deliver PPE and any other medical needs to rural Kentucky households. 

After a flood that happened in March earlier this year, Bart Massey, executive director of USA Drone Port, says they needed to help fix problems with isolation in rural Kentucky areas. Kentuckians were stuck in their homes with no power, food, or medical supplies, all at the start of the pandemic. 

“We had people that could not go to the stores, they were flooded in, they needed insulin, they needed batteries for their oxygen machines. They had people trying to get to them. But problems getting food, just a lot of different things,” Massey said.

Frances Feltner, director of UK's Center of Excellence in Rural Health says this partnership will create opportunities for people to receive items they may not have access to because of isolation. 

“During COVID-19, it really came apparent that due to isolation and due to the different barriers that people have living in rural areas, that we really needed to be inventive and come up with a way to reach people, particularly with PPE, particularly with supplies that they might need during that time,” Feltner said.

After months of researching, the new program was able to deliver its first drone package to a resident in Eastern Kentucky earlier this week.

“We got to fly and all of us actually pulled what we've worked on for several months together to put this into an application, and we can see the first patient get the PPE. And honestly, it was a proud moment to see this thing come together,” Massey said.

Feltner and Massey say there are more work and research to be done, but their hope is that this new program will evolve and grow within rural communities to help those in need.

“With the support of research, we're able to deliver a message back in research that others have not done. To be able to say what was the perception of the people that received the drone delivery. You know what they think about that. Do they think that is something in the future that is feasible to happen, particularly in places, when we get isolated, or during a pandemic when we need medicine so severely to get to the homes of the people that need it,” Feltner said.

The new program plans to continue its research as it starts delivering medication and PPE to those in Eastern Kentucky in January, starting with one or two deliveries a month.