Beacons in time of distress: advances in wireless applications for emergency telecommunications

Operating under the Tampere Convention, and responding to the calls of disaster stricken countries, emergency telecommunication workers were almost always part of the advanced team to reach a disaster site and set up an information and communications technologies network to facilitate the search and rescue efforts. These networks are most often wireless in nature, and devices using radio, microwave and satellite technologies were most often deployed. The present paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these wireless emergency-telecommunications applications. It then introduces some wireless applications or technologies which have either been recently employed or proposed to be employed, together with their technical or practical feasibility. The paper ends with a call to both the public and private sectors to join hands in the noble effort to employ modern information and communication technologies to save lives.