Helicopter-sharing app Blade enters organ transport business
Time is one of the most critical aspects of organ transports
There’s a small window of opportunity for an organ transplant to be safely and healthily transported.
NYU Langone Health, in partnership with Blade air travel service, is expediting the process by using helicopters to avoid congested travel.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News medical contributor and NYU Langone professor of medicine, was able to experience the process first hand, telling Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt that it’s changing the world of transplants.
“Speed is increasing, traffic and costs are decreasing, the benefits are bountiful and outcomes are improving,” he said.
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Time is one of the most critical aspects of organ transports, and the speed of an aircraft with the ability to avoid congested roadways helps make the process that much smoother.
“Reducing transit time is what Blade does for a living,” Will Heyburn, the company's head of corporate development, said.
A doctor prepares for a surgical procedure at a hospital in Washington. Tuesday, June 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
Dr. Nader Moazami, NYU Langone chief of cardiac/lung transplantation, said there’s “no question” that the shorter an organ goes being outside of a body, the better its functionality is.
According to Heyburn, there is no extra cost for transporting an organ via Blade, and Siegel said the journey costs a quarter less than what a medical evacuation helicopter would.
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Siegel stressed the importance of a Blade helicopter being able to fly over Manhattan and land across the street from the hospital, cutting out traffic and saving time exponentially.
Gary Gregory, who received a lung transported by Blade to the New York hospital, said he had a "great experience" and a "very quick recovery."
“I’m blessed,” he said.