The trek up the Glen Onoko Trail isn't like hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, but it certainly isn't a trip to the beach.

On Friday morning, state Sen. John Yudichak, state Rep. Doyle Heffley, and members of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and local fire chiefs met to discuss safety issues at Glen Onoko Trail and related issues.First responders are concerned about the condition of the trails, the need for additional access points and workers' compensation if one of them gets injured during a rescue.Nesquehoning Fire Department Chief John McArdle said, "The access areas have to be cleaned up. We're talking a path. It's a damp, moist area. The time is going to come when we have a major injury of one of our responders."McArdle is also concerned about the welfare of the people who walk on the trails. He said they come there wearing shorts, bathing suits and flip-flops."They're not dressed for this," he said. "It's a pristine area, but it's dangerous. It's a rattlesnake area."Likewise, Bill Diehm, fire chief for Jim Thorpe Fire Department, said he doesn't climb up to the site because the trails are narrow. "There's no easy way around it. The trail is in bad shape."Diehm said that in the early 1900s there were steps and bridges, "but those days are gone. All of the trails are marked in orange."He said it would be good if the trails could be designated with different colors or shapes to help people to not get lost. When an emergency call comes in, typically three or four fire departments have to respond, because it takes 20 to 30 first responders to find missing hikers or attend to injured hikers."The manpower situation is our biggest impact on these responses," Diehm said.In all, firefighters could be on a call to Glen Onoko for two to three hours or longer, depending on the severity of the issue. To get a person out in a rescue basket, first responders have to move the person hand-over-hand back down the trail. Time spent on the trail means firefighters are missing from the community if something else should happen during that time.Mark Nalesnik, the department coordinator for Carbon County Emergency Management Agency, said, "Manpower shortages are a major issue. While they are at these long instances at the Gorge, our surrounding communities become vulnerable.""Depending on the trail, it could take 25 minutes to get a patient out," Diehm said.He said emergency crews know that if a patient is attended to within an hour of an injury, the 'Golden Hour,' the person has a better chance of survival. The condition of the trails and access points to the trails slow down the responders.Yudichak said there has been much work on improving the sign and placing safety cables to keep people out of dangerous areas, but there is more to be done.John Hallas, director of the Bureau of State Parks for DCNR, said, "It's the sheer numbers that are accessing the site that set it up for tragedy.""We don't want the reputation that our tourism is dangerous," Yudichak said. "We want to tell people to come and enjoy Carbon County, just do it safely."He said public service announcements would help to make people aware of the dangers associated with the trail, but proper clothing and preparation for the hike can make them safer.State Rep. Doyle Heffley said tourism in the area is only going to increase in the foreseeable future."Tourism in Carbon County is the number one industry, and that's good," he said, but he would like to see improvements to the trails, signs and access points."The key is to get everybody in the room and have a conversation," Heffley said.Yudichak suggested that a task force be developed to address the safety issues."Get those who understand the issues on the ground," he said, to figure out "how do we put this together so that we have the safest trails we can."