Pandemic Paramedic Pilots: "The Flying Nun" meets "The Jetsons"

Help from Above: Okay, after dumping such a heavy load on you last post, it's time to 'lighten things up'. The same day (and radio station) I listened to the somber updated world COVID stats, I enjoyed listening to a review of  a newly tested jet suit for paramedics in particular, recently tested in the hilly terrain of the Lake District of the United Kingdom. As the report cites, a trained medical personnel wearing such an apparatus could potentially reach a person in an emergency in 90 seconds, that would otherwise take over half an hour to achieve on foot. The lifesaving potential is compelling, as are the potential applications in dense urban centers as well, allowing medical personnel in some cases to circumvent obstacles and obstructions posed by both nature and humanity (e.g., traffic jams).                                                                                               

Don't try this at home (yet): Flash back about a decade ago at a local college football game, which featured a man wearing a jet pack on his back who brought the game ball into the stadium by jetting over the top of the stadium from outside, landing where else but the 50 yard line (+ or -). Before the national anthem could get started another chorus originated from grown boys all around me: "I'm getting one of those for Christmas!"  Boys (and girls!) and their toys...

Better living through cartoons: A TV series starring Sally Fields, "The Flying Nun" (a series I did not watch religiously, LOL), ran from 1967-1970. It featured a diminutive and initially reticent nun whose light weight (90#) combined with the wing like headpiece she was required to wear (Sally Fields herself was not shy in saying it was not her favorite role, that she did not want to make wearing such getup a 'habit'), allowed her to sail through the air, depending on the prevailing winds. Another cartoon from half a decade earlier, "The Jetsons" (an episode of which I did not miss and I can still hear the song resonate), featured a space age family who enjoyed all things technological, many of which we actually enjoy ourselves today, minus the flying car (pretty darn close though). Combine these two series and what do you get, besides a flying angel coming to help those in need, now aided by more powerful thrusts!

An Angel by any other name: In many parts of the world and in our local community, of course, we have benefitted from the services of 'aerial angels' for a long time. Whether literal flying hospitals during the wars or helicopters with highly trained medical professional aboard transporting emergency patients to hospitals. More recently we have also witnessed the increased value and utilization of drones, in transporting blood supplies and microbiology specimens (COVID?), as well as in search and rescue operations.

Collision Course: Collectively, all the above trends bring me to the following advice: if you are thinking of attending law school or you are currently enrolled and trying to identify a specific area to practice, think about the emerging field of "Air Space Law". Rarefied air, indeed.


 

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