Fort Worth was officially awarded a Safe Communities designation at tonight’s City Council meeting, signifying the city’s broad interest in reducing injuries and joining 23 other U.S. entities and 299 worldwide with the status.
Safe Communities America conferred the designation on behalf of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre on Community Safety Promotion in Stockholm. The organization is a program of the National Safety Council.
The Fort Worth Emergency Services Collaborative organized a 130-member steering committee to push for the designation.
Programs launched by the committee included educating nurses to screen patients for possible domestic abuse, placing emergency contact cards in the bathrooms of the city’s One Safe Place center for domestic violence victims; educating Little League coaches to recognize symptoms of concussion and heat illness and to begin chest compressions in case of cardiac arrest; placing "Take Back" medication boxes at three police substations in neighborhoods with high incidence of drug overdose; training in prevention of falls, and giving ice cream coupons to children who police spot wearing bike helmets.
"This is a big deal," Mayor Betsy Price said of the award.
- Scott Nishimura, Star-Telegram Fort Worth City Hall reporter
Comments