So I'm think about popping the question to Jenassa (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Jenassa) with my Dunmer but the only thing stopping me is her lack of an essential tag. In general, what are the odds of a protected follower getting killed by traps and whatnot? I have Companion's Insight so I don't have to worry about blowing her up with a spell but I am a bit nervous about her getting sliced up by a swinging blade trap or something. I'm planning on using her as a follower most of the time so she would be facing that sort of thing pretty regularly. I'm not on PC so I can't make her essential via the console. Should I go ahead with it or look for someone else?

From the UESP wiki:

All permanent followers become http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Protected_NPCs while they are actively following you. When your follower would die due to an enemy attack or a trap, they will be incapacitated for some time and begin to recover their http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Health, just like essential NPCs; enemies will stop attacking or targeting them during this time. However, if they lose all their health again during this period, they will die for good. Thus, you should try to move the fight away from them, so that they are not hit by a stray arrow or area-effect spell. They can die from a damage-over-time effect that is stronger than their health recovery; most commonly those are caused by poisons.

Hope this helps!

Oh, that's interesting, Andy. I didn't know that. Then of course, I don't really use followers.... so why would I....

yep, it was always something we had to be aware of on console. Another reason I'm happy for my pc.

Yeah, I just don't get why anyone would play these games on console. PCs are SO much better - for everything.

At the time, I couldn't afford a pc good enough. *shrug* It wasn't a priority then either so...

I don't get it. I really don't. When I was looking at games and what they needed to play them, I found I could get a more than good PC for about a hundred bucks more than a console.... So?