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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015
Airlines asked to crash planes to reduce passenger stress
Though I never suffered
Ned
anything as severe as post-
Hickson traumatic stress from my own
Recently, a federal jury in
Billings, Mont., awarded $1
million to a woman who said
she suffers from post-traumat-
ic stress after her Delta
Airlines jet made an emer-
gency landing in November
of 2011.
The case gained attention
because it opens the floodgate
for other post-traumatic stress
lawsuits, which includes any-
one who has ever ridden in a
taxi in downtown New York.
NYC taxi experience, it was
many weeks before I could
free my mind from the terri-
fying image of my driver giv-
ing other drivers the bird with
both hands as he navigated
through Madison Avenue traf-
fic using only his knees.
Even today, I’m sure that
his back seat still has a per-
fect impression of my hands –
in the form of a death grip –
which he can use as a nice
conversation piece.
If you think about it, most
of us deal with potential post-
traumatic situations on a daily
basis without giving much
thought to lawsuits.
Just this morning, for
example, I filled the gas tank.
It’s a situation rife with
post-traumatic stress poten-
tial, especially when you con-
sider I’ll be reminded of that
horrific experience in three
weeks when my statement
arrives.
Ever find yourself in a
hurry opening a can of soup,
then a can of dog food, spoon
both of them out, heat the
soup, then realize as you’re
eating that you don’t remem-
ber which of the two cans you
Florence police, National Child
Safety Council seek donations
Florence Police Department
(FPD) and the National Child
Safety Council (NCSC) are
asking for donations to create
safety education materials for
children. The deadline for
donations is Friday, Aug. 7.
The NCSC is a nonprofit
organization that gathers com-
munity donations to fund pro-
fessional
educational
resources on child safety and
police appreciation.
“I worked with NCSC a
couple times before,” said
Florence Police Chief Tom
Turner about his experiences
as Lane County Sheriff.
“I’ve been really impressed
with the program and with the
materials,” he added.
According to 2014 statis-
tics, NCSC produces more
than 300 pieces of educational
material. Each city or service
working with NCSC can tailor
the materials to fit certain age
groups and topics.
The materials range from
bicycle safety and bullying
awareness to drug prevention,
Internet safety and other
important issues.
The NCSC also provides
materials that can help prevent
seniors from being victimized,
with topics on driver safety,
drug trends, domestic violence
and identity theft.
The NCSC also provides
crafts, coloring pages and
activities to make the learning
more accessible.
On average, NCSC materi-
als cost $1.90 per child.
Commonly donated amounts
benefit groups from 30 to 200
students, with donations from
$57 to $380.
The NCSC can send safety
materials for 30 to 5,000 chil-
dren at a time.
Turner said, “We get to use
the materials wherever we
want. In our schools, commu-
nity, events ... It winds up
being a very cost-effective
activity for us in the police
department.”
For more information, go to
w w w. n a t i o n a l c h i l d s a f e t y
council.org.
If you would like to donate,
contact the Florence Police
Department at 900 Greenwood
St. or call 541-997-3515.
measured the water with?
Though it’s the kind of
thing that lingers on your
mind, I have no plans to
appear on the witness stand in
the case of Ned vs Alpo.
It’s not that I’m trying to
belittle how frightening the
experience of an emergency
landing must have been for
the woman who sued Delta
Airlines. I just happen to
think the alternative — actu-
ally plummeting to the
ground at 800 mph — would
be much more stressful.
In fact, polls show that four
out of five travelers actually
prefer landing safely during
an emergency than to crash
landing in a nonemergency
situation (It’s important to
note that the fifth traveler
who was asked happened to
be a retired Kamikaze pilot.)
The truth is, depending on
your frame of mind, there are
lots of things that we face
every day that could be the
catalyst for post-traumatic
stress: the ingredients label on
a package of hot dogs; that
funny sound your car only
makes on long trips; your
teenagers; a carton full of
eggs with rippled shells; your
teenagers; beer caps that look
like the twist-off kind but
aren't; your teenagers; having
a surgeon whose last name is
Thrasher, Flatline or
Firstpatient — all of these are
legitimate stress inducers.
If you have found any of
this to be traumatic, I apolo-
gize.
If you’re still thinking
about it tomorrow, that would
be post-traumatic — and
lawyers in Billings, Mont.,
would like to hear from you.
Ned is a syndicated columnist
with News Media Corporation.
His book, “Humor at the Speed of
Life,” is available online at Port
Hole Publications, Amazon Books
and Barnes & Noble. Write to him
at nedhickson@icloud.com
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