January 7, 2025 • 30 mins
Blood & Service -Rodney Wilson with the American Red Cross discussing January being National Blood Donor Month
And, Rosa Guixens, Executive Director of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund with the latest numbers of LEOs killed in the line of duty in 2024
And, Rosa Guixens, Executive Director of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund with the latest numbers of LEOs killed in the line of duty in 2024
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues in facting you this week.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's Many Muonio's.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hellowen, thank you for tuning into this week's program. As
you heard, I am Manny Muno's and this is iHeartRadio's Communities.
An interesting topic that is near and dear to my
heart this week. Because I've been a blood donor for
about thirty nine years and January happens to be National
blood donor month. We're lucky to be joined now by
(00:33):
Rodney Wilson with the American Red Cross. Rodney, I appreciate
the time.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So let's start off with that this is blood donor month, January,
but it also happens to be a difficult time of
the year for blood supplies.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Why is that?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, And actually that's why January is National blood donor Month.
January is one of our most challenging months to ensure
a strong blood supply for a few different reasons. We're
coming off of the December holidays where maybe people are
still coming back into town. They've they've had you know,
busy schedules. So the two weeks of the December holidays
(01:13):
are some of the lowest blood donation periods of the
year where people are just very busy, and so you
come into January with a lower blood supply and busy individuals,
and and then we also have severe winter weather that
can disrupt our our blood drives, and we've seen that
already this month. It's just just since the beginning of January,
(01:37):
we've had severe snow and ice that's canceled more than
two hundred blood drives, so that that really impacts our
ability to ensure a stable supply. And then lastly, the
other big factor that we see in January is cold
and flu seasons. People who might might be healthy otherwise
and willing to donate are sick and not able to
(01:59):
do so. And all of those factors together just make
it a really tough month, which is why in nineteen
seventy President Nixon actually was the first president to declare
January as National Blood Donor Month, to focus on thinking
people who give and highlighting this important need.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
No, that's fascinating.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I mentioned I've been a donor for nearly four decades.
I don't unfortunately donate as regularly as I like, but
I still donate to this day. I was surprised to
read that only about three percent of eligible people donate
blood on a yearly basis.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, I mean that's really a shocking figure. Three percent.
I mean that's like three out of one hundred people
have ever donated blood. It's such a small number, and
yet blood donors are making modern medicine possible. I mean,
if you think about anybody that you know who's had
to go to the hospital for something, whether it was
an accident or it was a scheduled surgery like a
(02:54):
hip replacement or open heart surgery, all of those things
can require blood to make them possible. So if we
didn't have blood donors, we couldn't have cancer treatment, and
we couldn't have many of these surgeries that our loved
ones are having. And only three percent of the population
is donating, so it's so important more people do it.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Well, let's talk about the why, and maybe even in
our conversation today, bust some of the myths surrounding blood donation.
Let's start off with who is eligible to donate blood.
What are some of the basic requirements.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah, the basic requirements are you have to be at
least sixteen years old or seventeen in many states, or
in some states you can be sixteen with as signed
printal consent form, a minimum of one hundred and ten pounds,
and generally feeling well. That means you don't have a temperature,
you're not exhibiting any type of cold or flu symptom.
(03:51):
So that's the basic requirements. Then there's a number of
other eligibility criteria that might make you an eligible. International
travel to certain parts of the world can make you
ineligible just for brief periods of time, for about three months.
Certain types of medication might make you ineligible for a
(04:12):
brief period of time. Many of the rules that the
FDA has in place to determine eligibility are temporary. So
if you're taking a certain kind of medication, you may
be asked to wait three months from the last time
you took that medication, or if you traveled to certain
parts of the world, you might be asked to wait
three months after your return to donate. Things like that, right.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
And when you go donate, you fill out a questionnaire,
usually on an iPad or something like that with one
of the staff members. It takes I don't know, five six, seven,
eight minutes. I know piercings. Tattoos, at least of their
recent also may preclude someone from donating.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
You know, tattoos used to be a deferral, but they
aren't anymore. As long as they're applied in a licensed
tattoo facility, there is no deferral for tattoos. And that's
a pretty big one, you know. For many years there
was a deferral, but the FDA updated those guidelines, and
as long as the tattoo facility is licensed by the
(05:08):
FDA and follows FDA rules, there's no reason why you
can't get a tattoo and then immediately donate blood as well,
and then the process.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
There are different types of blood donations, right, I think
most of us are probably familiar with donating whole blood.
You just you know, get the needle in your arm
and you fill up the little pouch there. But you
can also donate platelets or plasma. Each of them have
their benefits in the medical establishment.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, lots of different ways you can donate. And if
you don't know you know what's right for you, that's okay.
You can talk with Red Cross staff and based on
your blood type, they can figure out the right donation
for you. But you know, whole blood donation is, you know,
just giving a plint of blood and then we take
it and we separate it into its different components. That
(05:53):
can include red blood cells, platelets, and plasma. But you
can also donate just a specific opponents. So if you
want to donate just platelets, that's helpful for burn victims
and cancer patients or Yeah, cancer patients use about a
fourth of all of the platelets that are donated, so
(06:17):
platelets are really really important, and some individuals have a
higher platelet count, so that's why it might be helpful.
Let's say you have a high platelet count, you would
be a good candidate to donate just platelets. But if
I have a lower platelet count, maybe I'm not a
great candidate for it. So we can suggest for you
what might be the best donation based on on your
(06:40):
blood type and all of those types of details.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Speaking with Rodney Wilson of the American or Red Cross
about the fact that January is National blood donor months,
how long does it take? So many of us live
busy lives and part of the reason why sometimes I
don't donate as often as I would like to. But
donating whole blood, platelets, plasma a different amount of time
from one's day.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, and you know, a whole blood donation takes only
about an hour. It's so quick and easy. And you
might think, oh, my goodness, an hour with a needle
in my arm. That's not you know, that's not how
health the process works. Really, when you donate whole blood,
the needle is only in your arm for maybe five minutes.
It's really quick. Your whole process is an hour from
the time that you sign in, you read through some materials,
(07:27):
answer some eligibility questions, and then you're on the donor bed.
And you know that's where everybody gets afraid. I know,
you know a lot of people are afraid of needles.
The idea just freaks them out. I can tell you
I'm a blood donor myself. You're a blood donor, you
know it is it's not anything like what you might think.
People are afraid it's going to hurt. It's going to
(07:49):
be painful that whole time. And I can tell you,
as a blood donor myself, it's not. You feel You
feel a quick pinch when the needle enters your arm,
and then you don't feel it anymore. And as you
donate blood, you don't even notice that the needle is
in your arm. It's so easy and there's really no
reason to be afraid.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
What about different blood types? Are you always in need
of one type more than another? Are all blood types
able to donate?
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yeah, well, we do need all types. Really to have
a strong blood supply, we want to have every type
on hand. There's a few key types that are most
helpful for us. Type OH whether it's O negative or
O positive, is really used the most type. O negative
is the universal donor. That means it can go to
anybody of any type. So that's so important in emergency situations.
(08:41):
Think about a car accident and a patient being rushed
to the hospital and there they're bleeding profusely. Doctors don't
have time to type their blood. They can reach for
OH negative blood right away and start transfusing without knowing
that patient's blood type and save their life. Once you
know that individual has been stabilized, then they can type
(09:04):
the patient and maybe they find out, oh, this person
is BE positive, then they're going to switch them over
to receiving BE positive blood. But that OH negative is
so essential in those first, you know, critical moments of
someone being bleeding after an accident. It literally saves lives
in an emergency situation. So OH negative is really the
(09:26):
most in demand type. OH positive is the second and
most transfused type. It can go to about eighty percent
of patients.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
How does somebody find out their blood type if they
don't know what it might be? Will would they find
that out during the donation process?
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah? Absolutely. And you know, one misnomer is that you
have to know your blood type in order to donate,
and you don't. I didn't know my blood type before
I donated the first time. But you do find out
your blood type after you donate. You know, you'll get
typed and then you'll get that information. So yeah, and really,
(10:02):
no matter what your type is, there's a use for it,
whether it's an o in using it in emergency situations
or you know, for for lots of other reasons. There
are patients individuals who are A B that's extremely rare
blood type. Only two or three percent of the population
have type A B blood, But we still need people
with AD blood to donate, So you know, there's a
(10:26):
need for everyone regardless of your blood type.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
You have a great program for people that might still
be hesitant having to do with the NFL. I want
to talk about that in just a second. The concerns
about safety, not only about donations but about the blood
supply used to make a lot of headlines I'm talking
decades ago.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
What is it like exactly what kind of.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Process ensures the safety and quality not only of the
blood supply but of the donation process.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
For sure. You know, blood donation is regulated by the
Food and Drug Administration, and they set all of the
criteria and the rules around how to collect blood and
how to store blood. And you know, the FDA and
the Red Cross have worked together to ensure the strongest
(11:13):
and safest blood supply possible. And you know, the FDA
agrees that today the blood supply is as safe as
it has ever been. The process is safe for the donor,
and there should be no concerns by a recipient for
receiving blood based on all of the rules and regulations
in place to ensure the safety for patients as well.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Is there something for somebody who's not familiar with the
process that they should do before they go to a
donation center to donate. Is there something they should prepare,
something you know, the foods they should or shouldn't eat,
anything like that.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. If you're donating, especially if
you're donating for the first time, we want you to
do a number of things before you come to donate.
Tell everybody that you should get a good night's sleep
the night before, and hydrate a lot, starting at least
a day before. You'll want to drink a lot of water.
(12:11):
Avoid caffeine if you can avoid, so that means you
coffee drinkers, Maybe avoid coffee, but hydrate with lots of water.
And then always eat a meal before you donate. You
don't want to donate on an empty stomach, so even
if your donation is scheduled for the morning, make sure
you have breakfast and all of those things. Just generally
make sure that your donation goes smoothly. Certainly, you know
(12:36):
occasionally somebody might feel lightheaded from the donation process. But
by doing all of these things, like hydrating and eating
a meal and getting a good night sleep, you can
ensure that you feel good and healthy and throughout that process.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Are there any common side effects after donating blood and
how can those types of things be managed?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
You know, it's possible that some people might just feel
a little lightheaded. But you know, part of the process
too includes a snack areas, so that's a red kirk.
After you donate, we ask you to sit for about
fifteen minutes. You can have some juice and some snacks
provided at the blood drive, cookies and crackers and different
(13:22):
types of goodies, and those not only are nice thank
you gift for you for the blood donation, but they
also helped put back the nutrients in you. Since we
just took something out of you, this helps give your
body some nutrients back into it to give you the
energy and perky back.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Up a few more minutes here with not Rodney Wilson
with the American Red Cross, Rodney. There's so many different
places where people can make blood donation. Some places you
do it out of the goodness of your heart because
it just makes you feel good. Other places, I was
surprised to learn some places even still pay people for
their blood and things like that. What are the differences
in different places to go and walk? I am? I
(14:02):
have I always been most comfortable donating with the Red Cross?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Well, yeah, there are multiple organizations that facilitate the blood donation.
The Red Cross is the largest blood donation organization in
the United States, and we provide about forty percent of
the nation's blood supply to hospitals and the rest is
provided by small, smaller community blood centers. But you know,
(14:27):
I think what's important is that people donate, regardless of
who they donate with. You can choose to donate with
the Red Cross or with a local community blood bank.
What's important is that more people give. And I think
if people understand why it's important, they're they're more likely
to give. It's something when I have conversations with people
(14:48):
about donating, I can see the fear in their eyes
of you know, thinking that it's going to be painful
or unpleasant process, and I can tell you that you know,
it is painful and it helps people. The reality is
the majority of us know someone who's received blood, whether
we realize it or not. So if you think about
(15:10):
who in your life do you know that has received blood.
Maybe you have a cousin who had cancer, or maybe
your neighbor had an open heart surgery, or your grandma
had a hip replacement, or your sister hemorrhage when she
gave birth to your nephew. You know, all of those
things can cause the need for a blood transfusion. You
(15:31):
may not even know that it happened, but these are
people in your life who are alive because blood donors
took the time to give. And when you think about that,
I think more people are willing to donate because they
think this could save someone's grandma or someone's son or daughter.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, that really helps put it in perspective. What are
the most common reasons donors might be turned away at
the donation site?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
And it's really no reflection on someone they are turned
away that day?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Oh sure, yeah, Well, because of the rules are pretty extensive.
It's estimated that I believe about a third of the
population is eligible, So you know, a lot a lot
of people might be ineligible for lots of different reasons.
It could be as simple as you are exhibiting a
temperature on the day of your donation, so I'll ask
(16:23):
you to wait until you know you don't have a
temperature anymore. But the biggest reasons why people will be
asked to wait to donate is medications that they are
taking recent international travel, or you know, their vital signs
aren't reading correctly temperature, or maybe your iron level is
(16:44):
lower than what the requirements are. But all of those
things are temporary for many reasons why you might not
be able to donate on any given day. That could
change in a couple of weeks or months to try
again if you can't donate on a specific day.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
How long is donated blood stored? How is it stored?
Is it do you have like blood banks? Does it
go straight to hospitals? How does that process work?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, I think this is a really good question because
you know, we are familiar with the term blood bank,
and you think that it must be like the bank
where there's you know, the bank just just has lots
of money, all sorts of blood in it, right right,
You think that there's this big freezer, we just have
all this blood just sitting there, and you know the
(17:31):
reality is that it's not a ton of blood just
sitting on the shelf waiting to be used. A blood
bank is really a revolving door because blood has a
short shelf life. We can't stock pilot and hold on
to it for you know, a rainy day when there
aren't enough people donating. Red blood cells have a shelf
(17:54):
life of about forty days, and from the time that
you donate, it's typically at a hospital and being transfused
within five days. It's it's a really quick process. So
let's say you donate on Monday. By Wednesday, we have
all of you. You've processed your blood, it's gone through
all the testing, and it's being released to a hospital.
(18:15):
It could be the hospital by Thursday or Friday and
being transfused by that point. So it comes in the
door and it's out to a hospital just as quickly.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I want to reiterate the three potential types of blood donations,
whole blood, platelets, and plasma. I know you went through
it a few minutes ago, but can can you talk
about each one individually, how long each one takes, and
what who benefits from each of those different donations.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Well, when you donate whole blood, and we separate that
in the different components, and it can go to lots
of different kinds of patients, but primarily we use the
red blood cells that can that can help anybody who's
had a large volume of blood loss. When you donate platelets,
platelets as longer process. Platelets and plasma both are a
(19:03):
longer process, about about an hour to an hour and
a half process, so it's a bigger time commitment. But
when you donate platelets, you're primarily helping cancer patients. About
a quarter of all platelets go to help support cancer patients.
Think about who you know who has had cancer. We
(19:23):
all know someone that's had cancer. Their treatment is made
possible by platelet transfusions, so that's so so important. And
plasma is used frequently with burn victims, so anybody who's
been in a fire or an accident that caused a
fire often will need lots of plasma transfusions through that process.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And if our conversation thus far hasn't convinced someone to donate,
if they haven't donated a while, or to become a
first time donor, tell me about this great program you have,
I guess in the six year now with the National
Football League.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, well, we partner with the NFL to offer a
fun gift. So anybody who comes to donate blood in
January is automatically entered to wind two tickets to the
Super Bowl. So if you donate this month, you may
end up with a prize package two tickets to the
Super Bowl and New or Leans. It would include your
airfare and your hotel and even some spending money.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
How can we find an American Red Cross donation site
near us?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
You can find blood drives on our website red crossblood
dot org. You can also call us at one eight
hundred Red Cross. We also have a really cool blood
donor app, and after you donate, the app will actually
tell you where your blood goes. So when I donate,
within a couple weeks after my donation, the app is
(20:49):
showing me where my blood is in the process. So
I will get an alert in the app that says
my blood is now being tested, my blood is now
being shipped. Now my blood has been received at you
know this hospital and tells you which hospital your blood
goes to. I think that is so so cool.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Redcrossblood dot Org is Rodney Wilson with the American Red
Cross discussing the fact that January is National Blood Donor Month.
Roll up your sleeve and become a donor like Rodney
and I. Rodney, I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Best of luck, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Our second conversation this week not a pleasant one. The
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is out with the
latest numbers on law enforcement officers killed in the line
of duty and the.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
News is not good.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Let's discuss it as we bring in Rosa Gwigson's executive
director of the nl EOMF National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Rosa,
good to talk to you again. I appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I appreciate you having me many thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So why the jaw dropping twenty five percent increase in
law enforcement officer's death in twenty twenty four compared to
twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
Well, we're still seeing a lot of firearm fatalities. We're
still seeing a lot of fatalities when it comes to
traffic related deaths. It's just I mean, I wish I
knew why. I wish I had an answer, we could
fix it. Our gunfire related fatalities. Out of the one
hundred and forty seven total of line of duty deaths
(22:21):
that we had, fifty two of those were gunfire related fatalities.
That's up thirteen percent from twenty twenty three, and sadly,
the the of those, we had nine officers that were
killed by just traffic enforcement, so you know, pulling people
over on traffic and the next largest grouping was officers
(22:44):
attempting to make an arrest and serve warrants. So we're
obviously still seeing a lot of that. Of the fifty
two related fatalities gunfire related, that doesn't count the number
of officers that are shot and shot at, so I
do not have a number. I was trying to look
for a solid number for all of twenty twenty four
for officers that are shot at. Right, the only thing
(23:06):
I could find was with the National FOP had up
that from January first to October thirty first of twenty
twenty four, they said three hundred and one officers were shot.
But again that doesn't include the full year, and it
does include officers that were shot at. I'm going to
still keep looking to see if I can find that number,
but so far I haven't had any.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Look, Yeah, as you mentioned it, so it's a lot.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
I mean, yeah, it's dangerous, don't there.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Well, without question, I want to talk about that in
a moment. As you mentioned, gunfire not surprisingly the leading
cause of death. But again we continue to see this
increase year over year of traffic related incidents where off
at law enforcement officers lives are lost.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Yes, we had forty six, as I mentioned, forty six
total crash related fatalities. That's a forty eight percent from
last year. Twenty nine of those were fatal crashes, so
those were either single vehicle crashes or just you know,
regular motor vehicle crashes to include motorcycle crashes. And then
seventeen officers were killed as struck by as, meaning they
(24:07):
were outside of their cruisers on the side of the road.
Some of them were already tended to traffic to crashes
that had already occurred, you know, for various different reasons.
And I mean honestly, again, I wish, you know, we
knew exactly why, but we've got you know, impaired drivers
that are causing these distracted drivers, people not minding their
(24:31):
move over laws. The states that you have the move
over laws I think you mentioned earlier maybe trying to
push something federally to have all states have all fifty
states have these move over laws, because there are some
states that don't have them.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Yeah, explain it, Explain exactly what that is, ROSA. What
is a move over law and why don't we have
federal legislation to make that mandatory across the country.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
So a move over law is when you are approaching
an officer that has his lights on, he's on the
side of the road, it's clear whether he whether he's
got somebody pulled over or tending to an accident that's
already occurred. If you can safely change lanes to move
one lane over, if you're in the lane closest to
the officer, you know that's on the shoulder or the
side of the road, to try to move over again safely,
(25:15):
if you can change into the lane next to you
left towards the left, to just create a little more
distance between the car that you're operating and the officer
that's on the side of the road, and that includes
the person that he has stopped or the person that
they're attempting to help, because they can be affected by
any of these accidents that are occurring and killing police
officers nationwide. But again, not all fifty states have those laws,
(25:39):
and that's.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
What you refer to that are called struck by fatalities,
And that number went from eight in twenty twenty three
to seventeen last year in twenty twenty four, a one
hundred and thirteen percent increase.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Correct, it's astounding, and that was our biggest clearly our
biggest jump at percentage wise, but it's a lot, a lot,
And I think I brought this up earlier also where
three officers were killed in one incident in Palm Beach County.
Just three motor officers were on the side of the
road and they were even on the grass. It's not
like they were they were on the shoulder. They were
even further off the road on a grass and they
(26:15):
were struck and killed by an impaired driver.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, And as often happens in those cases, it was
someone who was either distracted or just in this case,
lost control of their vehicle and slammed into those three officers,
killing two of them.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
No, I'm actually killing three because the two the third
died a few days later. He made it to the
hospital that he did pass a few days later.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
So yeah, terrible.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Tell me about what nl EO MF the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Is and what you do. Let's start off with the
history of the group.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
So the history here.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
This was.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Mario Biaggi. He was a retired MIPD officer. It became
a congressman for New York. It was kind of his
brain child to with certain degree, he put together a bill,
managed to get it pushed through the House and through
the Senate. It was eventually signed off by President Reagan
in October of nineteen eighty four. They had five years
to make this all come to fruition or then it
(27:14):
was going to expire. The permission to do it was
going to expire. So they finally decided on Judiciary Square
as the location. Money was raised, which back then was
eleven million dollars, which is still even today a lot
of money, but back then that was a boatload of money.
They hired architect Davis Buckley to design it, and ground
was broken across the street here at the Memorial in
(27:35):
nineteen eighty nine, and it was eventually dedicated on October
fifteenth of nineteen ninety one by President George Bush. At
that time, the first names that were engraved were twelve thousand,
five hundred officers whose names were engraved then, and we
currently have twenty four thy sixty seven and obviously more
to come this year. So last year we ended up
(27:58):
having to put on a tension on the Memorial because
we ran out. Sadly, we ran out of space. So
now as yes as you visit the memorial, see there's
another tier that goes all the way around, and we
added on the new section. Last year, we added another
eighteen names to the new part. So we're already starting
(28:18):
to use it.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And this isn't a recent thing.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
This goes back to the first known death of a
US law enforcement officer, back what in seventeen eighty six.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Is that right, seventeen eighty six, that's correct, Yes, and
that's our oldest stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You also have a museum which may not be as
well known as some of the others there in Washington,
but the National Law Enforcement Museum is also there.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yeah, to our museum is top of the line. It's
the only museum that is dedicated the nation that's dedicated
to American law enforcement, and you know, we try to
put together you can sort of walk through the walk
in the shoes of American law enforcement and go through
the history. We have a simulator, a Shoot Dunk Shoot simulator.
We also have a driving simulator. It's super fun, super
(29:07):
cool and different kind of games you can play on
both of those. But it's a beautiful, top of the
line museum. I encourage anybody that's ever in DC, you're
coming to visit, to please stop buy four four four
East Street, Northwest Washington, d C. And the memorial itself
is just across the street on the other side of
the street.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
On the side the website to get more information is
n l e O m F dot org National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund dot org.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Rose, I really appreciate your time as always, be.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Well, Manny as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
N L e O m F dot org is the website,
and that brings this latest edition of iHeartRadio Communities to
a close.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Until next time, I'm Manny Munos.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues in facting you this week.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's Many Muonio's.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hellowen, thank you for tuning into this week's program. As
you heard, I am Manny Muno's and this is iHeartRadio's Communities.
An interesting topic that is near and dear to my
heart this week. Because I've been a blood donor for
about thirty nine years and January happens to be National
blood donor month. We're lucky to be joined now by
(00:33):
Rodney Wilson with the American Red Cross. Rodney, I appreciate
the time.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So let's start off with that this is blood donor month, January,
but it also happens to be a difficult time of
the year for blood supplies.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Why is that?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, And actually that's why January is National blood donor Month.
January is one of our most challenging months to ensure
a strong blood supply for a few different reasons. We're
coming off of the December holidays where maybe people are
still coming back into town. They've they've had you know,
busy schedules. So the two weeks of the December holidays
(01:13):
are some of the lowest blood donation periods of the
year where people are just very busy, and so you
come into January with a lower blood supply and busy individuals,
and and then we also have severe winter weather that
can disrupt our our blood drives, and we've seen that
already this month. It's just just since the beginning of January,
(01:37):
we've had severe snow and ice that's canceled more than
two hundred blood drives, so that that really impacts our
ability to ensure a stable supply. And then lastly, the
other big factor that we see in January is cold
and flu seasons. People who might might be healthy otherwise
and willing to donate are sick and not able to
(01:59):
do so. And all of those factors together just make
it a really tough month, which is why in nineteen
seventy President Nixon actually was the first president to declare
January as National Blood Donor Month, to focus on thinking
people who give and highlighting this important need.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
No, that's fascinating.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I mentioned I've been a donor for nearly four decades.
I don't unfortunately donate as regularly as I like, but
I still donate to this day. I was surprised to
read that only about three percent of eligible people donate
blood on a yearly basis.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, I mean that's really a shocking figure. Three percent.
I mean that's like three out of one hundred people
have ever donated blood. It's such a small number, and
yet blood donors are making modern medicine possible. I mean,
if you think about anybody that you know who's had
to go to the hospital for something, whether it was
an accident or it was a scheduled surgery like a
(02:54):
hip replacement or open heart surgery, all of those things
can require blood to make them possible. So if we
didn't have blood donors, we couldn't have cancer treatment, and
we couldn't have many of these surgeries that our loved
ones are having. And only three percent of the population
is donating, so it's so important more people do it.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Well, let's talk about the why, and maybe even in
our conversation today, bust some of the myths surrounding blood donation.
Let's start off with who is eligible to donate blood.
What are some of the basic requirements.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah, the basic requirements are you have to be at
least sixteen years old or seventeen in many states, or
in some states you can be sixteen with as signed
printal consent form, a minimum of one hundred and ten pounds,
and generally feeling well. That means you don't have a temperature,
you're not exhibiting any type of cold or flu symptom.
(03:51):
So that's the basic requirements. Then there's a number of
other eligibility criteria that might make you an eligible. International
travel to certain parts of the world can make you
ineligible just for brief periods of time, for about three months.
Certain types of medication might make you ineligible for a
(04:12):
brief period of time. Many of the rules that the
FDA has in place to determine eligibility are temporary. So
if you're taking a certain kind of medication, you may
be asked to wait three months from the last time
you took that medication, or if you traveled to certain
parts of the world, you might be asked to wait
three months after your return to donate. Things like that, right.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
And when you go donate, you fill out a questionnaire,
usually on an iPad or something like that with one
of the staff members. It takes I don't know, five six, seven,
eight minutes. I know piercings. Tattoos, at least of their
recent also may preclude someone from donating.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
You know, tattoos used to be a deferral, but they
aren't anymore. As long as they're applied in a licensed
tattoo facility, there is no deferral for tattoos. And that's
a pretty big one, you know. For many years there
was a deferral, but the FDA updated those guidelines, and
as long as the tattoo facility is licensed by the
(05:08):
FDA and follows FDA rules, there's no reason why you
can't get a tattoo and then immediately donate blood as well,
and then the process.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
There are different types of blood donations, right, I think
most of us are probably familiar with donating whole blood.
You just you know, get the needle in your arm
and you fill up the little pouch there. But you
can also donate platelets or plasma. Each of them have
their benefits in the medical establishment.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, lots of different ways you can donate. And if
you don't know you know what's right for you, that's okay.
You can talk with Red Cross staff and based on
your blood type, they can figure out the right donation
for you. But you know, whole blood donation is, you know,
just giving a plint of blood and then we take
it and we separate it into its different components. That
(05:53):
can include red blood cells, platelets, and plasma. But you
can also donate just a specific opponents. So if you
want to donate just platelets, that's helpful for burn victims
and cancer patients or Yeah, cancer patients use about a
fourth of all of the platelets that are donated, so
(06:17):
platelets are really really important, and some individuals have a
higher platelet count, so that's why it might be helpful.
Let's say you have a high platelet count, you would
be a good candidate to donate just platelets. But if
I have a lower platelet count, maybe I'm not a
great candidate for it. So we can suggest for you
what might be the best donation based on on your
(06:40):
blood type and all of those types of details.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Speaking with Rodney Wilson of the American or Red Cross
about the fact that January is National blood donor months,
how long does it take? So many of us live
busy lives and part of the reason why sometimes I
don't donate as often as I would like to. But
donating whole blood, platelets, plasma a different amount of time
from one's day.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, and you know, a whole blood donation takes only
about an hour. It's so quick and easy. And you
might think, oh, my goodness, an hour with a needle
in my arm. That's not you know, that's not how
health the process works. Really, when you donate whole blood,
the needle is only in your arm for maybe five minutes.
It's really quick. Your whole process is an hour from
the time that you sign in, you read through some materials,
(07:27):
answer some eligibility questions, and then you're on the donor bed.
And you know that's where everybody gets afraid. I know,
you know a lot of people are afraid of needles.
The idea just freaks them out. I can tell you
I'm a blood donor myself. You're a blood donor, you
know it is it's not anything like what you might think.
People are afraid it's going to hurt. It's going to
(07:49):
be painful that whole time. And I can tell you,
as a blood donor myself, it's not. You feel You
feel a quick pinch when the needle enters your arm,
and then you don't feel it anymore. And as you
donate blood, you don't even notice that the needle is
in your arm. It's so easy and there's really no
reason to be afraid.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
What about different blood types? Are you always in need
of one type more than another? Are all blood types
able to donate?
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yeah, well, we do need all types. Really to have
a strong blood supply, we want to have every type
on hand. There's a few key types that are most
helpful for us. Type OH whether it's O negative or
O positive, is really used the most type. O negative
is the universal donor. That means it can go to
anybody of any type. So that's so important in emergency situations.
(08:41):
Think about a car accident and a patient being rushed
to the hospital and there they're bleeding profusely. Doctors don't
have time to type their blood. They can reach for
OH negative blood right away and start transfusing without knowing
that patient's blood type and save their life. Once you
know that individual has been stabilized, then they can type
(09:04):
the patient and maybe they find out, oh, this person
is BE positive, then they're going to switch them over
to receiving BE positive blood. But that OH negative is
so essential in those first, you know, critical moments of
someone being bleeding after an accident. It literally saves lives
in an emergency situation. So OH negative is really the
(09:26):
most in demand type. OH positive is the second and
most transfused type. It can go to about eighty percent
of patients.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
How does somebody find out their blood type if they
don't know what it might be? Will would they find
that out during the donation process?
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah? Absolutely. And you know, one misnomer is that you
have to know your blood type in order to donate,
and you don't. I didn't know my blood type before
I donated the first time. But you do find out
your blood type after you donate. You know, you'll get
typed and then you'll get that information. So yeah, and really,
(10:02):
no matter what your type is, there's a use for it,
whether it's an o in using it in emergency situations
or you know, for for lots of other reasons. There
are patients individuals who are A B that's extremely rare
blood type. Only two or three percent of the population
have type A B blood, But we still need people
with AD blood to donate, So you know, there's a
(10:26):
need for everyone regardless of your blood type.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
You have a great program for people that might still
be hesitant having to do with the NFL. I want
to talk about that in just a second. The concerns
about safety, not only about donations but about the blood
supply used to make a lot of headlines I'm talking
decades ago.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
What is it like exactly what kind of.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Process ensures the safety and quality not only of the
blood supply but of the donation process.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
For sure. You know, blood donation is regulated by the
Food and Drug Administration, and they set all of the
criteria and the rules around how to collect blood and
how to store blood. And you know, the FDA and
the Red Cross have worked together to ensure the strongest
(11:13):
and safest blood supply possible. And you know, the FDA
agrees that today the blood supply is as safe as
it has ever been. The process is safe for the donor,
and there should be no concerns by a recipient for
receiving blood based on all of the rules and regulations
in place to ensure the safety for patients as well.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Is there something for somebody who's not familiar with the
process that they should do before they go to a
donation center to donate. Is there something they should prepare,
something you know, the foods they should or shouldn't eat,
anything like that.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. If you're donating, especially if
you're donating for the first time, we want you to
do a number of things before you come to donate.
Tell everybody that you should get a good night's sleep
the night before, and hydrate a lot, starting at least
a day before. You'll want to drink a lot of water.
(12:11):
Avoid caffeine if you can avoid, so that means you
coffee drinkers, Maybe avoid coffee, but hydrate with lots of water.
And then always eat a meal before you donate. You
don't want to donate on an empty stomach, so even
if your donation is scheduled for the morning, make sure
you have breakfast and all of those things. Just generally
make sure that your donation goes smoothly. Certainly, you know
(12:36):
occasionally somebody might feel lightheaded from the donation process. But
by doing all of these things, like hydrating and eating
a meal and getting a good night sleep, you can
ensure that you feel good and healthy and throughout that process.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Are there any common side effects after donating blood and
how can those types of things be managed?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
You know, it's possible that some people might just feel
a little lightheaded. But you know, part of the process
too includes a snack areas, so that's a red kirk.
After you donate, we ask you to sit for about
fifteen minutes. You can have some juice and some snacks
provided at the blood drive, cookies and crackers and different
(13:22):
types of goodies, and those not only are nice thank
you gift for you for the blood donation, but they
also helped put back the nutrients in you. Since we
just took something out of you, this helps give your
body some nutrients back into it to give you the
energy and perky back.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Up a few more minutes here with not Rodney Wilson
with the American Red Cross, Rodney. There's so many different
places where people can make blood donation. Some places you
do it out of the goodness of your heart because
it just makes you feel good. Other places, I was
surprised to learn some places even still pay people for
their blood and things like that. What are the differences
in different places to go and walk? I am? I
(14:02):
have I always been most comfortable donating with the Red Cross?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Well, yeah, there are multiple organizations that facilitate the blood donation.
The Red Cross is the largest blood donation organization in
the United States, and we provide about forty percent of
the nation's blood supply to hospitals and the rest is
provided by small, smaller community blood centers. But you know,
(14:27):
I think what's important is that people donate, regardless of
who they donate with. You can choose to donate with
the Red Cross or with a local community blood bank.
What's important is that more people give. And I think
if people understand why it's important, they're they're more likely
to give. It's something when I have conversations with people
(14:48):
about donating, I can see the fear in their eyes
of you know, thinking that it's going to be painful
or unpleasant process, and I can tell you that you know,
it is painful and it helps people. The reality is
the majority of us know someone who's received blood, whether
we realize it or not. So if you think about
(15:10):
who in your life do you know that has received blood.
Maybe you have a cousin who had cancer, or maybe
your neighbor had an open heart surgery, or your grandma
had a hip replacement, or your sister hemorrhage when she
gave birth to your nephew. You know, all of those
things can cause the need for a blood transfusion. You
(15:31):
may not even know that it happened, but these are
people in your life who are alive because blood donors
took the time to give. And when you think about that,
I think more people are willing to donate because they
think this could save someone's grandma or someone's son or daughter.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, that really helps put it in perspective. What are
the most common reasons donors might be turned away at
the donation site?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
And it's really no reflection on someone they are turned
away that day?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Oh sure, yeah, Well, because of the rules are pretty extensive.
It's estimated that I believe about a third of the
population is eligible, So you know, a lot a lot
of people might be ineligible for lots of different reasons.
It could be as simple as you are exhibiting a
temperature on the day of your donation, so I'll ask
(16:23):
you to wait until you know you don't have a
temperature anymore. But the biggest reasons why people will be
asked to wait to donate is medications that they are
taking recent international travel, or you know, their vital signs
aren't reading correctly temperature, or maybe your iron level is
(16:44):
lower than what the requirements are. But all of those
things are temporary for many reasons why you might not
be able to donate on any given day. That could
change in a couple of weeks or months to try
again if you can't donate on a specific day.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
How long is donated blood stored? How is it stored?
Is it do you have like blood banks? Does it
go straight to hospitals? How does that process work?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, I think this is a really good question because
you know, we are familiar with the term blood bank,
and you think that it must be like the bank
where there's you know, the bank just just has lots
of money, all sorts of blood in it, right right,
You think that there's this big freezer, we just have
all this blood just sitting there, and you know the
(17:31):
reality is that it's not a ton of blood just
sitting on the shelf waiting to be used. A blood
bank is really a revolving door because blood has a
short shelf life. We can't stock pilot and hold on
to it for you know, a rainy day when there
aren't enough people donating. Red blood cells have a shelf
(17:54):
life of about forty days, and from the time that
you donate, it's typically at a hospital and being transfused
within five days. It's it's a really quick process. So
let's say you donate on Monday. By Wednesday, we have
all of you. You've processed your blood, it's gone through
all the testing, and it's being released to a hospital.
(18:15):
It could be the hospital by Thursday or Friday and
being transfused by that point. So it comes in the
door and it's out to a hospital just as quickly.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I want to reiterate the three potential types of blood donations,
whole blood, platelets, and plasma. I know you went through
it a few minutes ago, but can can you talk
about each one individually, how long each one takes, and
what who benefits from each of those different donations.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Well, when you donate whole blood, and we separate that
in the different components, and it can go to lots
of different kinds of patients, but primarily we use the
red blood cells that can that can help anybody who's
had a large volume of blood loss. When you donate platelets,
platelets as longer process. Platelets and plasma both are a
(19:03):
longer process, about about an hour to an hour and
a half process, so it's a bigger time commitment. But
when you donate platelets, you're primarily helping cancer patients. About
a quarter of all platelets go to help support cancer patients.
Think about who you know who has had cancer. We
(19:23):
all know someone that's had cancer. Their treatment is made
possible by platelet transfusions, so that's so so important. And
plasma is used frequently with burn victims, so anybody who's
been in a fire or an accident that caused a
fire often will need lots of plasma transfusions through that process.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And if our conversation thus far hasn't convinced someone to donate,
if they haven't donated a while, or to become a
first time donor, tell me about this great program you have,
I guess in the six year now with the National
Football League.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Yeah, well, we partner with the NFL to offer a
fun gift. So anybody who comes to donate blood in
January is automatically entered to wind two tickets to the
Super Bowl. So if you donate this month, you may
end up with a prize package two tickets to the
Super Bowl and New or Leans. It would include your
airfare and your hotel and even some spending money.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
How can we find an American Red Cross donation site
near us?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
You can find blood drives on our website red crossblood
dot org. You can also call us at one eight
hundred Red Cross. We also have a really cool blood
donor app, and after you donate, the app will actually
tell you where your blood goes. So when I donate,
within a couple weeks after my donation, the app is
(20:49):
showing me where my blood is in the process. So
I will get an alert in the app that says
my blood is now being tested, my blood is now
being shipped. Now my blood has been received at you
know this hospital and tells you which hospital your blood
goes to. I think that is so so cool.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Redcrossblood dot Org is Rodney Wilson with the American Red
Cross discussing the fact that January is National Blood Donor Month.
Roll up your sleeve and become a donor like Rodney
and I. Rodney, I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Best of luck, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Our second conversation this week not a pleasant one. The
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is out with the
latest numbers on law enforcement officers killed in the line
of duty and the.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
News is not good.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Let's discuss it as we bring in Rosa Gwigson's executive
director of the nl EOMF National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Rosa,
good to talk to you again. I appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I appreciate you having me many thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So why the jaw dropping twenty five percent increase in
law enforcement officer's death in twenty twenty four compared to
twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
Well, we're still seeing a lot of firearm fatalities. We're
still seeing a lot of fatalities when it comes to
traffic related deaths. It's just I mean, I wish I
knew why. I wish I had an answer, we could
fix it. Our gunfire related fatalities. Out of the one
hundred and forty seven total of line of duty deaths
(22:21):
that we had, fifty two of those were gunfire related fatalities.
That's up thirteen percent from twenty twenty three, and sadly,
the the of those, we had nine officers that were
killed by just traffic enforcement, so you know, pulling people
over on traffic and the next largest grouping was officers
(22:44):
attempting to make an arrest and serve warrants. So we're
obviously still seeing a lot of that. Of the fifty
two related fatalities gunfire related, that doesn't count the number
of officers that are shot and shot at, so I
do not have a number. I was trying to look
for a solid number for all of twenty twenty four
for officers that are shot at. Right, the only thing
(23:06):
I could find was with the National FOP had up
that from January first to October thirty first of twenty
twenty four, they said three hundred and one officers were shot.
But again that doesn't include the full year, and it
does include officers that were shot at. I'm going to
still keep looking to see if I can find that number,
but so far I haven't had any.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Look, Yeah, as you mentioned it, so it's a lot.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
I mean, yeah, it's dangerous, don't there.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Well, without question, I want to talk about that in
a moment. As you mentioned, gunfire not surprisingly the leading
cause of death. But again we continue to see this
increase year over year of traffic related incidents where off
at law enforcement officers lives are lost.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Yes, we had forty six, as I mentioned, forty six
total crash related fatalities. That's a forty eight percent from
last year. Twenty nine of those were fatal crashes, so
those were either single vehicle crashes or just you know,
regular motor vehicle crashes to include motorcycle crashes. And then
seventeen officers were killed as struck by as, meaning they
(24:07):
were outside of their cruisers on the side of the road.
Some of them were already tended to traffic to crashes
that had already occurred, you know, for various different reasons.
And I mean honestly, again, I wish, you know, we
knew exactly why, but we've got you know, impaired drivers
that are causing these distracted drivers, people not minding their
(24:31):
move over laws. The states that you have the move
over laws I think you mentioned earlier maybe trying to
push something federally to have all states have all fifty
states have these move over laws, because there are some
states that don't have them.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Yeah, explain it, Explain exactly what that is, ROSA. What
is a move over law and why don't we have
federal legislation to make that mandatory across the country.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
So a move over law is when you are approaching
an officer that has his lights on, he's on the
side of the road, it's clear whether he whether he's
got somebody pulled over or tending to an accident that's
already occurred. If you can safely change lanes to move
one lane over, if you're in the lane closest to
the officer, you know that's on the shoulder or the
side of the road, to try to move over again safely,
(25:15):
if you can change into the lane next to you
left towards the left, to just create a little more
distance between the car that you're operating and the officer
that's on the side of the road, and that includes
the person that he has stopped or the person that
they're attempting to help, because they can be affected by
any of these accidents that are occurring and killing police
officers nationwide. But again, not all fifty states have those laws,
(25:39):
and that's.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
What you refer to that are called struck by fatalities,
And that number went from eight in twenty twenty three
to seventeen last year in twenty twenty four, a one
hundred and thirteen percent increase.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Correct, it's astounding, and that was our biggest clearly our
biggest jump at percentage wise, but it's a lot, a lot,
And I think I brought this up earlier also where
three officers were killed in one incident in Palm Beach County.
Just three motor officers were on the side of the
road and they were even on the grass. It's not
like they were they were on the shoulder. They were
even further off the road on a grass and they
(26:15):
were struck and killed by an impaired driver.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, And as often happens in those cases, it was
someone who was either distracted or just in this case,
lost control of their vehicle and slammed into those three officers,
killing two of them.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
No, I'm actually killing three because the two the third
died a few days later. He made it to the
hospital that he did pass a few days later.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
So yeah, terrible.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Tell me about what nl EO MF the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Is and what you do. Let's start off with the
history of the group.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
So the history here.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
This was.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Mario Biaggi. He was a retired MIPD officer. It became
a congressman for New York. It was kind of his
brain child to with certain degree, he put together a bill,
managed to get it pushed through the House and through
the Senate. It was eventually signed off by President Reagan
in October of nineteen eighty four. They had five years
to make this all come to fruition or then it
(27:14):
was going to expire. The permission to do it was
going to expire. So they finally decided on Judiciary Square
as the location. Money was raised, which back then was
eleven million dollars, which is still even today a lot
of money, but back then that was a boatload of money.
They hired architect Davis Buckley to design it, and ground
was broken across the street here at the Memorial in
(27:35):
nineteen eighty nine, and it was eventually dedicated on October
fifteenth of nineteen ninety one by President George Bush. At
that time, the first names that were engraved were twelve thousand,
five hundred officers whose names were engraved then, and we
currently have twenty four thy sixty seven and obviously more
to come this year. So last year we ended up
(27:58):
having to put on a tension on the Memorial because
we ran out. Sadly, we ran out of space. So
now as yes as you visit the memorial, see there's
another tier that goes all the way around, and we
added on the new section. Last year, we added another
eighteen names to the new part. So we're already starting
(28:18):
to use it.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And this isn't a recent thing.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
This goes back to the first known death of a
US law enforcement officer, back what in seventeen eighty six.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Is that right, seventeen eighty six, that's correct, Yes, and
that's our oldest stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You also have a museum which may not be as
well known as some of the others there in Washington,
but the National Law Enforcement Museum is also there.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Yeah, to our museum is top of the line. It's
the only museum that is dedicated the nation that's dedicated
to American law enforcement, and you know, we try to
put together you can sort of walk through the walk
in the shoes of American law enforcement and go through
the history. We have a simulator, a Shoot Dunk Shoot simulator.
We also have a driving simulator. It's super fun, super
(29:07):
cool and different kind of games you can play on
both of those. But it's a beautiful, top of the
line museum. I encourage anybody that's ever in DC, you're
coming to visit, to please stop buy four four four
East Street, Northwest Washington, d C. And the memorial itself
is just across the street on the other side of
the street.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
On the side the website to get more information is
n l e O m F dot org National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund dot org.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Rose, I really appreciate your time as always, be.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Well, Manny as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
N L e O m F dot org is the website,
and that brings this latest edition of iHeartRadio Communities to
a close.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Until next time, I'm Manny Munos.
Host
Manny Munoz
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