MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Drones will be used to help save lives in Manatee County starting next month.

Manatee County Public Safety and Tampa General Hospital have partnered with a drone company to launch a pilot program next month. They say it will be the first of its kind in the nation.

It will allow 911 dispatchers to send emergency supplies to where a victim is located. Right now, the drone is set to cover a 3.5-square mile area around Malachite Drive in Lakewood Ranch.

Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge hopes the coverage area will expand to harder-to-reach areas in the county that have heavy traffic.

"We’ve had catastrophic accidents on the island beaches, boating accidents. We have trouble getting EMS rigs out there and back out of town as well, even going up and down the island as well,” he said.

The drone will take off from this EMS location here at Malachite Drive in Lakewood Ranch. The drone will carry NARCAN, a tourniquet, and an AED to emergencies. It could take between a minute-45 to a little over two minutes to reach the destination.

County officials say it will speed up response times and could save lives.

Gordon Folkes and his company, Archer First Response Systems, are spearheading the pilot program in Manatee County to anyone who is experiencing cardiac issues, opioid exposure or physical trauma.

"The drone and the housing unit are just kind of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the underlying infrastructure that’s involved in this operation,” he said.

When a dispatcher gets a 911 call, they can send the drone. Once arriving at its destination, the drone will release the emergency supply package, taking only 15 seconds to land while the drone will constantly hover above at 200 feet. There will be instructions with the medical equipment along with assistance over the phone with Manatee County EMS.

"It’s a single system that will respond to a single 911 call at a time,” he said.

After the emergency, the drone returns to its original location, where it will need to be restocked again for the next call.

"We’ve been training with the team in the emergency communications center for four months now,” Folkes said.

He says they have technology that decides what areas the drone is clear to travel in.

"When we install one of these systems, we perform a satellite analysis where we can make delivery and there are thousands of coordinates that are acceptable,” he said.

This is considered Phase 1 and will be in service Monday through Friday, sunup to sundown.

Changes are expected to take place toward the end of the year, called Phase 2. This could expand the program to cover a 35-square-mile area and operate the drone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This pilot program will cost Manatee County $1 a month but according to the county, it's completely free to residents who will use the services. It is expected to begin May 1.

Right now, the drone is not sustainable to reach near areas of water, but commissioners want to see if they can expand the area to help people out on their boats.