CISA Critical Infrastructure Sector
Hospital drone security
A hospital campus is an open site by necessity. Helipads, emergency entrances, pharmaceutical supply and patient areas cannot be walled off the way an industrial plant can. Drone interference with a medical helicopter is not a hypothetical the sector can defer. Most hospitals have an emergency preparedness plan. Few have named the air domain in it.
Where The Exposure Is
Four things that make this sector different.
HELIPAD OPERATIONS
Medical helicopters operate on tight schedules and low margins for interference. A drone incursion near a helipad is a safety event, not just a security one.
OPEN CAMPUS DESIGN
Emergency entrances, parking structures and outdoor patient areas are designed for public access, which limits the physical barriers a security program can rely on.
PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY
Loading docks and cold chain pharmaceutical storage are visible from above and represent a supply chain the hospital cannot easily relocate or conceal.
PATIENT PRIVACY
Aerial observation of outdoor patient areas, ambulance bays and behavioral health units raises privacy exposure that a fence line was never built to address.
Regulatory Context
The CMS Emergency Preparedness rule for hospitals (42 CFR 482.15) requires an all-hazards, facility-based and community-based risk assessment and an emergency plan, reviewed at least every 2 years, with training every 2 years and two exercises a year. The Joint Commission’s emergency management standards center on a hazard vulnerability analysis (EM.11.01.01). Separately, 14 CFR 107.43 prohibits drone operations that interfere with heliport operations.
A DVRA is designed to add drone incursions and helicopter interference as a named hazard in the all-hazards assessment and hazard vulnerability analysis, on the same 2-year cycle the hospital already runs.
How An Engagement Applies Here
The same four pillars, scoped to this environment.
Common questions
Has ClearPoint worked with organizations in this sector?
This page describes how our method applies to the environment, not a client list. ClearPoint does not publish client or engagement records.
What does an engagement here usually start with?
A DVRA. It establishes the baseline: what is actually flying over the campus and helipad, and where existing procedure would break down under real pressure.
How does this connect to our CMS emergency preparedness rule requirements?
A DVRA is designed to add drone incursions and helicopter interference as a named hazard within the all-hazards risk assessment already required under 42 CFR 482.15, on the same 2-year review cycle.
Does this cover interference with our medical helicopter operations?
Yes, as an assessment and planning matter. 14 CFR 107.43 already prohibits drone operations that interfere with heliport operations. A DVRA documents the exposure and feeds it into your hazard vulnerability analysis and response procedures.
Can you stop a drone over our facility?
No. In the United States, mitigating a drone is limited to federal agencies with statutory authority and, since July 2026, to state and local law enforcement and correctional agencies certified under the SAFER SKIES Act. ClearPoint does not mitigate. ClearPoint detects, tracks, assesses, documents, trains and coordinates with the agencies that hold that authority.
Start with the decision you need to make.
Whether you’re evaluating drone risk or ready to assess a specific site, we’ll help you identify the next step.