EMD Safety Bracelet: Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid

Posted on July 9, 2008 by Mary VanMeer
Filed Under Air Travel, Terrorism 

When I read that our Department of Homeland Security is actually considering making it mandatory for airline passengers to wear Lamperd’s “EMD Safety Bracelet” (aka “Electronic ID Bracelet”) on every flight, I was stunned and shocked (pun intended).  EMD stands for “electro-muscular disruption.” 

According to the Lamperd website, crew members would be able to use radio frequency transmitters to send out a signal which overrides the central nervous system of the person who is wearing the bracelet and render him or her immobile for several minutes, not unlike the tasers used by the police.

While the intended use is against “terrorists,” consider this.

What if a passenger becomes annoying to a flight attendant who is having a bad day?  Zap!  What if a passenger is out of control, hijacker or not, and the flight attendant is so upset by the situation that he or she presses the button on the grid screen for the wrong bracelet?  A young child or frail elderly person could get zapped. 

What if the would-be hijackers knew where the grid screen was located and how it worked, and managed to quickly subdue the flight attendants?  They could then zap all the passengers or keep them under control with the threat of being zapped. 

The flight attendants would theoretically also be carrying a laser activator that, according to the Lamperd site, “can activate any bracelet as needed by simply pointing the laser at the bracelet; that laser dot only needs to be within 10 inches of the bracelet to activate it.”  Doesn’t that mean that someone could take it away from them?

And what about the possibility of a “terrorist” infiltrating the plane as a flight attendant?  Dysfunctional and mean-spirited men and women come in all races, religions, and nationalities.  Homeland Security might have a terrorist “profile,” but, c’mon!!

The point is that, in MY opinion, there is a lot of room for error with this scenario.  And while I’ve never been afraid of flying, I’d be nervous the entire flight if I were forced to wear an unremovable (until the flight is over) bracelet that could accidentally cause me to be, well, stunned and shocked and incapacitated.  As if the airline industry isn’t having enough problems right now, do they need yet one MORE reason for people to not want to fly?

What is YOUR opinion about this?  Register, log in, and comment!


Return to ThriftyTraveling.com Home Page


Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.