New markers installed along biking trails at Gateway Park in Fort Worth aim to help find injured people faster and cut down overall response times.
52 markers were recently installed, with 26 on the west and east ends of the roughly 10-mile-long trail. Fort Worth Fire Department engineer Craig Trojacek said most of the incidents they respond to are traumatic injuries, cardiac issues, and heat-related illnesses.
He said that dense trees have made it difficult to find people at times.
“We have been experiencing in some incidences, an over two-hour response time to some of these folks,” Trojacek said. “We know there are people out there that are needing our help, and we don’t know how to get to them. They don’t know the best way to tell us where they’re actually at on these trails.”
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Each marker is color-coded and assigned unique letters that 911 callers can relay to emergency personnel.
“They’re strategically placed where we have seen most of the people that have called in, whether it be very difficult jumps and drop-offs. Or some very tough turns at the bottom of the hills,” Trojacek said.
Alan Lok of Fort Worth rides his bike on the trails almost every weekend. He, like other visitors, said he thought the markers were a good idea.
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“I myself had cramps, not at this trail but another trail. I was thinking, if I had cramps in the middle of the trail…how would people know how to reach me? Or if I had a serious accident?” Lok said. “I’ve fallen off my bike a few times, especially riding more difficult trails. But nothing major, thankfully.”
The city of Fort Worth paid for the signs, and there are discussions of using the same system at other parks.
