RTA

For He will command His angels concerning you,

to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

I’m on call at the hospital this weekend. Today I made rounds in one of the “High Dependency Units” at the hospital, for patients who need a higher level of care, but not quite ICU care. Today’s rounds left me feeling angry and sad.

The HDU has 5 beds, and 3 are currently occupied by victims of what we call road traffic accidents, or RTA’s. Two of them have severe brain injury, with a guarded prognosis. 

In Snohomish, we have a skilled nursing facility which has specialized over the years in caring for patients with severe traumatic brain injury. But no such facility exists in Kenya, so these two men will spend weeks in the hospital before going home to an uncertain future. 

Due to the level of surgical and orthopedic care we offer, and because of our proximity to the highway, Kijabe Hospital treats a large number of RTA victims.

But many don’t make it. Every year thousands of Kenyans die in road traffic accidents, a large number for a country this size. Hardly a week goes by when we don’t hear of another tragic accident somewhere in Kenya, often on the main 2-lane highway on the escarpment above Kijabe. Last week a bus careened off an embankment west of here, crushing the bus and killing over 50 people. 

Other times it’s a matatu accident, often involving high speed, reckless driving in these 14-passenger minivans. Most of the main highways have only 2 lanes, and it’s common to see vehicles passing dangerously on a curve or playing a Kenyan form of “chicken” with oncoming traffic. Buses and matatus are often not maintained properly, and safe driving laws are routinely ignored.

Kathy and I travel somewhere every couple weeks, usually with a private driver whom we have hired. We know that there is a risk every time we take to the roads, and we pray each time that God will keep us safe. And we pray for the thousands of Kenyan families who lose loved ones every year.

- Doug

Photos courtesy of The Daily Nation