Over the last month, the news media has picked up stories of international relief workers abducted from the site or in some cases, murdered. Case and point of the tragic death of the Scottish NGO professional worker.
In 2008, according to the Humanitarian Policy Group, 260 aid workers were killed, kidnapped or seriously injured in violent attacks. Relative rates of attacks against aid workers in the field have increased 61%. The 2008 fatality rate for international aid workers exceeded that of UN peacekeeping troops. Finally, recent studies have shown that 50% of intentional violence cases are lethal.
A unique solution is on the rise...
During the past year, I have collaborated with two location based services companies that provide real-time tracking with one button emergency distress for Smartphones - Breadcrumb and GeoCritical LLC. Their clients include various companies including global news organizations, which offers them a robust real-time GPS based tracking soutrion of personnel for security and risk mitigation services. Their software is delivered "Over the Air" in a 20 second download to Blackbery, IPhones and Window based Smartphones, and users are on the map within minutes.
Breadcrumb and GeoCritical are operating in 45 countries and their emergency distres signal has been received from Kabul, Afghanistan in 40 seconds, Haiti in 30 seconds, and Nigeria under a minute.
Breadcrumb addresses this risk with a simple Automatic Personnel Locator with Emergency Distress capability that loads on Blackberry, iPhone and Windows based Smartphones and Personal Safety Devices.
Built and managed by location based security and risk mitigation services experts, Breadcrumb delivers cutting edge GPS technology in the palm of your hand.
This technology allows users to:
-Covertly send an emergency distress signal by pressing one button
-Automatically notify colleagues or first responders when emergency distress is activated
-Continues to report location every minute during emergency distress
-View all users on one Google Map for a Common Operational Picture
As an NGO professional, I have seen many risky situations that warrant such a safety device which empowers the traveler and user to access their assets not only on their devices but on the internet using a secure log-in website. I could be tracking several colleagues from across town to across the globe in my home office computer.
For more information about how your organization can be part of this solution, contact Rrgarcianrg@gmail.com.
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