Drones Could Reduce Opioid Overdose Response, GW Study Finds


October 8, 2024

Drone delivering aid

In the article "Drones Could Transform Emergency Response to Opioid Overdoses," GW Today detailed the findings of professor of decision sciences and electrical and computer engineering Miguel Lejeune's new study, “Drone-Delivery Network for Opioid Overdose: Nonlinear Integer Queueing-Optimization Models and Methods." The study explores using drones to reduce response times and increase the chances of survival during overdoses.

Here is an excerpt from the article: "To determine whether drones could respond quicker in cases of overdoses, Lejeune analyzed overdose data spanning two and a half years between 2017 and 2019 in the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. He input that data into a prescriptive analytics mathematical model to determine what the response time would have been if drones were used. Lejeune used queuing-based optimization models in the study."

Read the full article on GW Today.