Drone and Healthcare

Innovator Showcase

Henry Bretz: Well, you see some memorable stuff in hospitals, don't you? But I doubt you have ever seen a drone, or maybe you have. How can drones make a difference in the health space? That's what this weeks inventor can tell us. Kerrie Hinschen joins us now from the
Tropical Innovation Festival. It's currently taking place in Cairns this week. Kerrie, thanks for being with us.
Kerrie Hinschen: Hi. Thanks, Henry.
HB: Tell us a bit about how you are bringing drones and health together.
KH: Well, I've been working in healthcare, I have the privilege to work in healthcare for a long period of time, and in the last couple of years I've also been working in the drone space. And it took me a little while longer than it probably should have to realise that I really should be marrying these two loves and passions together. I knew within the drone space that drones can augment businesses really well and help to take them to the next level, and so incorporating that into healthcare is just obviously the next logical step for me. There's a number of different arms that this can take on and it can look like, but as an example moving consumables between different sites and locations is something that we do on a very regular basis in healthcare and in hospital settings.
That's just simply because we work with humans. We carry stock items and we carry lines that we predict the need for, but because we work with humans, we can't always really accurately predict that need on a given day or time. So being able to have a system in place where we can transport that in a really time critical situation will obviously help for better patient outcomes.

HB: Kerrie, you said that so casually, like I was working in drones and I was working in health, so I just had to bring the two together. I bet a lot of us might be wondering how on earth did you find yourself in drones because it's quite different to health on the face of it.

KH: It really is, but I guess for me, I've always been an entrepreneur at heart and it's something that I didn't realize it's just something that I've always done. I've always looked at what I can do next and what can happen next. Because of some entrepreneurial things that I'd done I found myself working in the Smart Precinct at Townsville, and when I was in that space, I came in contact with a lot of people that were doing amazing things and really pushing the envelope further. Somebody was quite involved with drone work and I saw the market and the need for that and how that it was just expanding so rapidly. So that really piqued my interest and it was something that I wanted to look at more deeply. I think last time we spoke I was heavy in product development, which is a whole different ballgame from where I'm at now, but it really gave me the understanding of the playing field, the ecosystem within the drone space and the technicality of it, which was a steep learning curve. But I think while some roads are difficult it really placed me in a position to be able to know what I'm doing now and move forward with that.

HB: Kerrie, if you didn't have a background in health yourself, do you think it would've been more difficult to navigate this innovation space?

KH: I think so. I think now I'm finally working in an area that I feel completely comfortable in, and I don't think there's very many people that could have stood at an operating table and understood the real need for that on a logistical level. But as well understand that drone space and there's a lot of regulation that goes into that. So, whilst it's a perfect fit
for me, like every entrepreneur journey, it's about finding that fit and finding that area. So would I be able to step into it so easily without having that deep understanding? Probably not, but I stepped into the drone space without having a deep understanding. So knowledge is not limited and it's only what you do with it.

HB: Kerrie, when we talk about AI and drone technology in the health space, how long could it be before it's playing an even bigger role in hospitals? Could there be a point where we are seeing drones zipping around between patients and doing checks? So it might sound
a bit farfetched, but how much could drones really get involved in hospitals?
KH: I think the drone space is just moving so quickly. The government's putting a lot of money into the Emerging Aviation Technology Partnership. It's something that they're really exploring on multiple levels. Drone technology, everything from EVTTOL's and passengers to making that regulation a little bit easier to navigate for people working in the drone space. I think a lot of people are conscious of how quickly it's
moving, and so they're trying to really help that to come along so that Australia, regionally particularly, we're involved in that from the get go and we're really making those leaps and bounds quickly. I think it's really exciting that there's that level of support for it. And I think with that coupled with some of the amazing things that people are coming up with and the ideas, I don't think it's very far away at all that we see these things that are crazy concepts all of a sudden are on our doorstep, really.
HB: I mean, you talk about these crazy concepts, and do you think that after the last couple of years with the pandemic, that innovations of a bold nature in the health space are seen as more important or they may be treated with less skepticism as we look to really evolve health after what we've been through?

KH: I think so. I think you know, given what we've been through, I think that it's changed everybody on a level, from entrepreneurship and taking that challenge and on a broad spectrum looking at life and how we do things and how things have always been, and just understanding that that's maybe not always going to be the way. The landscape is fluid and we can really pivot and turn and change with that. As humans, we're really resilient and we're really adaptable. And I think that probably some of the things that a lot of people have gone through that's maybe come out to the forefront on a lot of people's mind, which I think is really positive.
HB: And I know you've been with Smart Precinct and up in Cairns at the Tropical Innovation Festival this week. How's that been?

KH: It's completely amazing! We're early on, but it's such a supportive space. I think Tara and Kate and the team at launch FNQ, they really create this space that is fun, it's energetic and it's really safe. I had to get up and pitch and that's a nerve-wracking thing to do, but they've created this space, that's really open and so you feel much more comfortable doing that. I think for a lot of founders, the journey is very isolating sometimes. There's not a lot of people that go through this and we've had the
experience to sit in rooms with really successful entrepreneurs and hear them tell that story of how you've got to be prepared to get knocked down five times and get up six, and is this the journey that you want to do? And just the hardships that they went through, even when it looks really good on the surface. So I think being in that environment and
being surrounded by those founders and those like-minded people, it's invaluable in this journey.

HB: It's a festival full of innovators. Is it pretty hectic? Is everyone talking quickly and pitching ideas all the time? I imagine there's a bustle of activity and ideas.

KH: So much. I think they have over 80 speakers and on Thursday we, we get to go and we do that on the reef. So we're actually having fireside chats and snorkeling at the same time. It's hectic....

HB: I've got to innovate something. I just want to come to this festival...
KH: I know it's really brilliant. But that's the way that we roll. And it's nice being around similar like-minded people. You can be having a conversation about something and that someone will jump in with a completely different version or take on that and you roll with it. And I think everybody is in this mindset of how can we help, how can we help
each other? How can we help that person that's sitting next to me because I might know someone that they can talk to and that kind of networking. But that kind of collegiality is, it's one of the best things to come out of a festival like this.

HB: Well, Kerrie Hinschen and the work you do in bringing drones and the health space together, it's so interesting. Thanks so much for sharing it with us and enjoy the rest of, I mean, I say the festival but also what sounds like a holiday in some respects. So have a great week.
KH: Thanks Henry. Appreciate it.