Jump pursues specialized medical response applications of eVTOL ‘air taxis’

The looming arrival of battery-powered air taxis may conjure futuristic, Jetson-esque images of urban aerial travel, but California aviation startup Jump Aero is eschewing the allure – and anticipated profits – of that mass market transportation potential to develop an electric takeoff and landing plane (eVTOL) designed exclusively for getting medical responders to patients in time to provide critical care.

Petaluma-based Jump this month unveiled the model for its JA1 “Pulse,” a craft and project that takes the configurations and applications of myriad air taxi developers and stands them – almost literally – on their head. Or tuchas as it were, since the idea is to produce a tail-sitting eVTOL that a medical rescue expert can strap into while standing, then fly face-down (think “Wonder Woman”) in order to reach a stricken person within the ten-minute time frame before oxygen deprivation of many health emergencies starts causing brain damage.

That’s perhaps not as sexy sounding as a hop aboard an Archer air taxi from Lower Manhattan to United’s Newark terminal, or a commute from a suburban 2024 Olympic event site to central Paris. Yet ask yourself next time you feel that iron vice grip your chest as a heart attack begins whether Jump’s JA1 “Pulse” responder eVTOL concept doesn’t sound pretty good as well.

To be fair, air taxi developers Archer, Joby, and Wisk are all much farther along in preparing their flesh-and-blood eVTOLs for certification and launch, with Jump still working towards a prototype. Meanwhile, companies like Volocopter have already begun adapting their production-grade planes created for passenger transport to medical responder use. 

Read: Volocopter adds emergency medical response to diversifying air taxi uses

But the JA1 “Pulse” represents the first next generation aircraft being developed exclusively for getting a medical expert to emergency victims before speeding ground crews can arrive to take over – a singularity often synonymous with either micro-niche profitability limitations, or daring vision in creating ground-breaking, usually lucrative specialization.

The idea has already drawn the attention of significant backers. Last week Jump announced it had secured an additional $1.8 million from the US Air Force’s Agility Prime tech support program, raising the total committed to the startup’s proof-of-concept and prototype work to $3.6 million. Meanwhile, Denmark-based European medical rescue transportation company Falck Ambulance Services has committed to buying at least one JA1 “Pulse” eVTOL to supplement its helicopter fleet. 

If they come to manufacturing fruition, Jump eVTOLs won’t present an either-or option to public agencies and private business using traditional vehicles in medical responses to health emergencies. Instead, they’ll enable first-on-the-scene care to arrive faster than ground crews that will subsequently help stabilize and transport patients to hospitals – or summon helicopters to do that even quicker.

Read: In a medical history first, an AED-hauling drone helps save a cardiac patient’s life 

The overall concept works as follows. 

When an emergency alert comes in, a hospital, fire, police, or other responder unit will send its in-house medical technician out to an awaiting JA1 “Pulse” craft. That expert will then strap in, and – given the way battery-powered eVTOLs operate – lift off immediately without waiting for engines to warm or systems to be readied. Once lifted vertically to flight altitude, the plane will tip nose-first to soar at 250 knot speeds, reaching any victim within 31 square miles – which corresponds to the eight- to 10-minute travel time limit considered crucial to preserving brain capacity during heart attacks, strokes, certain head injuries, or other accidents. 

Per Jump’s conception, the JA1 “Pulse” eVTOL is designed only to fly 330 lb. of pilot and supplies to victims within its operational radius and time frame. That intentionally limits battery size and capacity to lower weight, but will also require craft to be trucked back from emergencies to its station for recharging. Round-tripping may have to wait until Generation II.

Read: Air taxi maker Archer signs $142M eVTOL deal with US Air Force

While Falck thinks the JA1 “Pulse” project will facilitate the company’s plans to modernize and improve its work using specialized eVTOLs, the US Air Force clearly believes adapted air taxi tech will have defense applications in medical response scenarios as well as the troop and cargo transport objectives it is pursuing.

 “Jump Aero’s aircraft concept and development strategy focusing on rapid emergency response has potential for defense-related use-cases and is complementary to the other eVTOL programs that the US Air Force’s Agility Prime program has engaged with to date,” said program lead Lt Col John Tekell. “We look forward to working with Jump Aero to help mature their dual-use technology.”