Henry,
The rules must be put in context here.
Up until the past decade, ham radio gear generally didn't have
transmitting capability on non-ham frequencies, and I'm not counting
modifications and such.
Then manufacturers came out with handhelds which could be easily modified
to transmit out-of-band, which the FCC has tried to eliminate.
When the regs were written, this was less of an issue, although, of
course, the means have always been there for the tech-savvy ham to
broadcast out-of-band.
So how to interpret the regulation Richard quoted?
This might be a good exampmle.
One-way transmission, besides a general call, is illegal.
You can't just go on the air legally and do a 15-minute monolog and sign
off.
However, doing so in a genuine emergency could fall under this wording,
Picture yourself transmitting for 30 minutes on a ham frequency, with your
callsign and the message, "My friend is dying. He's been hurt in a hiking
accident, and I'm stranded on the mountain with him.
Here is my location. Please call emergency personnel."
While normally not legal, I suspect that one could convincingly argue that
you were using any means dispoaable to you to save his life.
As Richard pointed out, the provisions give amateurs privileges which
apply to the frequencies granted by the license.
That might also mean that if you were a Novice, and in an emergency
situation, your license wouldn't grant you the privilege of voice
communication on 7255 kHz, although you'd probably fare better legally on
that one.
Frankly, if someone's life were in danger, I'd transmmit wherever I could
and try to save his life, and worry about confiscation later.
If that meant forfeiting my license, at least I'd have done it for a good
cause.
--Rick