Of Updates and Statistics

Okay, it has been a long week, but even more so for three of my co-workers. Here is an update on how they are doing:

Agent M as you all know was treated and released the day of the collision. However, since then she was taken back to the Emergency Room due to chronic pain related to the collision. She was diagnosed with severe whiplash, and is in short, really hurting.

Agent S has been moved out of the Intensive Care Unit and been placed in a room. She has a cracked Larynx, a bruised Trachea, bruised vocal cords, and some bruising on the brain (I am unsure as to which part). Since the last I heard she was actually able to swallow a little bit of liquids and some food and is in general doing better.

Agent L is still not doing very well. She is still in the Neural Intensive Care Unit due to some bleeding on the brain. She has multiple broken bones in her face. I do not know if this is good or bad news, but she is no longer in a Chemical induced coma. The concoction apparently reacted badly with her heart. However, she is able to communicate now with her family (via hand signals and writing). So, I am going to go with good, despite the pain she must now be feeling.

The driver of the other vehicle is also in the hospital. I am unsure as to her status, but she is still in the hospital.

All four women need fervant prayer. They and their families need the peace of that only the Lord Jesus can bring.

Since this collision I have thought a great deal about the most dangerous aspects of my job and Law Enforcement as a whole. According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Home Page, 133 Law Enforcement Personnel died in the line of duty in 2008. Of that number 71 were killed in some sort of traffic related incident and only 39 were killed by firearms. This is apparently down significatly from 2007, where 83 Officers were killed by TRI's and 68 to firearms. According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 41,059 died in 2007 in traffic "accidents". Of those Fatal "accidents" Law Enforcement made up 0.002%.

So, what do I hope you all take away from these Statistics and the after affects of one crash? Do you need to ask? I want you to SLOW DOWN! I want you to wear a seat belt! I want you to call your friends to come pick you up when you have had to many alcoholic beverages! I want you to stop talking on your cell phone, for the love of all things sacred, DO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE!! It takes far to much conscentration away from the road, no matter how good you think you are. Five more minutes stuck behind the wheel of your car, is favorable to spending a week or months in the hospital.

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Semper Fi Deus