Patent ID: 7181192

Claim:
An automated emergency alert system, comprising: a handheld portable communication device operable to initiate communication over a wireless telecommunications network, and comprising a location receiver operable to determine a location of the handheld portable communication device; a dynamic sensor operable to generate an acceleration profile for the handheld portable communication device; a memory operable to store one or more predefined acceleration profiles, each predefined acceleration profile associated with an emergency event; one or more processors collectively operable to: receive from the dynamic sensor an acceleration profile for the handheld portable communication device, the acceleration profile comprising a plurality of discretely sampled acceleration values taken at predetermined time intervals; access one or more predefined acceleration profiles stored in the memory; compare the acceleration profile received from the dynamic sensor to the one or more predefined acceleration profiles stored in the memory to determine if the acceleration profile substantially matches a predefined acceleration profile in the one or more predefined acceleration profiles; and if it is determined that the acceleration profile received from the dynamic sensor substantially matches a predefined acceleration profile in the one or more predefined acceleration profiles stored in the memory, initiate a communication using the wireless telecommunications network to one or more emergency call centers to notify the emergency call center that the emergency event has occurred, wherein the one or more processors are operable to: determine a velocity of the handheld portable communication device using the location receiver; and in addition to determining whether the acceleration profile received from the dynamic sensor substantially matches a predefined acceleration profile stored in the memory, use the determined velocity to determine whether an emergency event has occurred.