Help locator signs for trails assist first responders in saving lives

In 2014, the city of San Antonio Texas installed 911 locator signs on its ever expanding Howard W. Peak Greenway Trail System. According to its website, “The greenway consists of over 40 major trailheads and neighborhood connections” around the city and it also connects “dozens of local parks and consist of approximately 1,450 acres of creek-side open space and natural areas.”

With a trail system of that size, accidents are inevitable, and the city stepped in to make it easier to respond to any crisis, big or small. The greenway now boasts 911 locators at 1/4 mile and mile markers, which help emergency dispatchers and first responders quickly get to a hiker in distress.

Other U.S. cities and recreation organizations have also installed similar help locator sign systems to improve trail safety. Some of these signs display a number that corresponds to satellite-based GIS map, such as those used by the parks and recreation departments in Decorah, Iowa or Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Other sign systems, such as those found in San Antonio and Indianapolis, capitalize on satellite technology to link the locator system directly to 911 emergency dispatch centers.

“All trail signage should be designed in a way that helps trail-goers have fun and stay safe,” explains Ben Baldwin, president of Baldwin Design Works. “But help locators do more than that. They save lives. It is that simple. No park or trail should be without them.”
Help locators work when a person can’t walk or ride to get assistance, or when the accident is so severe that immediate emergency services are needed, Baldwin explained.

What about at night? Some of the help locators being installed use Trail Glo technology so that they are still visible to night hikers, campers, and bears.

As spring turns to summer, more and more people are outside enjoying parks and trails. Installing help locators, whether linked to a satellite system or not, give trail goers the added comfort that, if something should happen, they will be easily and quickly found so that they quickly get the help that they need.

Sign Design for our Times 
Baldwin Design Works
85 Kelly Clark Court
Cartersville, GA 30121

404.518.7688