1. A method for monitoring respiration using a thermal imaging system, the method comprising: capturing thermal images of a subject of interest intended to be monitored for respiration using a thermal image camera set to a temperature of a facial region of said subject, each thermal image comprising a plurality of pixels each corresponding to a surface temperature of said facial region across a thermal wavelength band; analyzing said thermal images to determine a facial feature associated with respiration; tracking said facial feature over time to identify a pattern of respiration; determining a respiration rate from said respiration pattern; performing any of: comparing said determined respiration rate to a pre-defined respiration rate, and comparing said determined respiration pattern to a pre-defined respiration pattern; and initiating an alarm in response to either of said comparisons falling outside a level of acceptability.