It is frequently necessary or desirable for people to live or work in areas where their personal safety cannot be assured. For example, it is often desirable for aid workers, such as medical personnel, to operate in war zones or other places with no government authority. Further, it is often necessary for ordinary citizens to live and work in areas where their government authorities are not able to provide adequate security. However, people in such areas are often subject to threats to their personal safety, such as kidnappings by, e.g., ideologically or monetarily motivated groups, such as terrorists or insurgents.
In the past, people in such areas have been equipped with devices which monitor their location, and/or provide them with the ability to broadcast a “panic” signal once they recognize a threat to their personal security. However, these devices do not provide complete security because, first, such threats may materialize before people recognize that they are occurring, and, second, the devices may easily removed from the control of the person they are designed to protect, and thus give a false indication of the location or well-being of the person.
In addition, electronic home-detention systems are known in which a detainee is fitted with a transmitter collar around an appendage (e.g., an ankle), which transmits a signal. A monitoring station placed in the detention area senses whether the detainee has left the detention area by sensing the absence of the signal from the transmitter. If the detainee is determined to have left the detention area, the monitoring station may alert law enforcement authorities. However, such systems are designed to prevent the detainee from leaving the detention area, rather than ensuring their personal safety. In addition, such devices may sometimes be taken off of the detainee's appendage without alerting authorities.
Consequently, existing systems fail to meet the security requirements of people who live and/or work in insecure areas. Accordingly, there is a need for systems and apparatus to deter and prevent threats to such persons' personal safety.