Cell phone, satellite phone, SPOT, EPIRB. How much do you rely on these emergency forms of communication when you travel?

A recent New York Times article by Mary Billard discusses this question. After the author’s husband fractured his ankle in Indonesia, Billard noted, “Our cellphones — a BlackBerry and an iPhone (both with AT&T) — turned out to be the most valuable things we could have packed” (despite the $902.82 phone bill they received).

Others have even more dramatic stories of technology actually saving their lives when in remote regions abroad, including a 20-year-old woman who broke her leg in a remote part of far eastern Russia on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Kimberley Warren was conducting global warming research when she fell off a horse and broke her leg last September. She activated an emergency beacon that sent a signal to a Scottish Royal Air Force base that contacted Russian emergency services, resulting in her rescue .

However, for every story of technology saving the day, there is a story of technology leading people astray or causing a false sense of security. When people become too reliant on technology, they can get themselves into trouble, as several Norwegian tourists learned when the GPS system in their rental car led them directly into a firefight in a Rio slum.

Even if an individual is able to make contact with rescuers, help does not always arrive in time. In 2006, three climbers on Mt. Hood became trapped high on the mountain during a blizzard. Despite the fact that they were able to make cell phone contact, they were unable to be rescued in time to save their lives. In October, a Pacific Crest Trail hiker died of exposure shortly after being in cell phone contact with members of her party after she had become separated from them.

Anecdotes can readily be found to argue either side of the technology debate. Now, with even remote places in interior Alaska getting cell phone service and many other forms of communication relying on satellite technology, it is a personal question every traveler must contemplate when preparing for a trip: Are these forms of technology a lifeline or do they provide a false sense of security?