First off, allow me to thank all of you for your responses. Already the responses have stimulated me to think carefully about this initiative and I vlaue greatly the comments, which I'll address:

Blast-suggest you look at this link for geography of UAE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_United_Arab_Emirates
As for the inhabitation, mostly very rural (sparse) villages/towns, with a few large cities (Dubai, Sharjah), many people living way out in the boonies that do farming/raise goats, sheep, etc., yes, very safe to approach the locals, they always seem to be interested in anything new (in spite of the language barrier), Arabian customs/law REQUIRE them to assist lost/stranded/distressed personnel

Ironman-As for the SAR assets, the government (both military and civilian) contracts out the SAR mission to an outfit called Falcon Aviation Services : http://www.falconaviation.ae/services.php?mid=35
They are using the B412 and Augusta AW139, equipped w/FLIR, Nightsun, etc. Each helicopter is crewed with at least one paramedic, so med treatment arrives when the helicopter arrives. I just had a chat with these guys today over at the arprt and will soon be delivering two briefings to them (our ops/fleet info and another brief on the Cirrus SR22 ballistic recovery system (BRS)). They are based at three separate locations in the UAE, so I'm figuring that they can get up + running w/:30 after receiving notification from the ATC boys that we've an overdue a/c. Flight ops will be both over land and water, with some of the overwater ops being beyond power-off glide distance for that altitude. JAA/JAR regs require PFDs for all onboard anyway (another on of me projects). Also, mandatory reporting requirements (CAR OPS-1) require that our guys report to ATC every :30.
I'm still staying with my focus on signaling (to include 406 Mhz PLB), shelter, med kit, and food/water. I'm NOT going to equip these guys for an extended desert party, I just don't feel they'll be out there that long.
Please keep the cards + letters coming, I really appreciate all of the input!!

Desertsafetyguy