New York Yankees. Green Bay Packers. Los Angeles Lakers. Chicago Bulls…
Riley County EMS?
Paramedics and ambulance drivers joined a rare club of organizations that have three-peated Tuesday afternoon. For the third straight year, Riley County EMS won the public’s vote as their favorite public service in this year’s 12th Annual Battle of the Badges Blood Drive at St Thomas More Catholic Church.
Riley County EMS led the pack with 119 votes, while the Manhattan Fire Department was second with 104 votes. The Riley County Police Department tallied 53.
But most importantly, the blood drive saw enough donors to collect 241 pints of blood for the American Red Cross.
Kristi Ingalls, Senior Donor Recruitment Representative for the American Red Cross, said this year’s event brought in over 50 more pints than expected and that the donations could help more than 700 people.
“This was a big jump for us right when we needed it,” Ingalls said in a press release. “The real winners are those hospital patients and their family members who will now benefit from the life-saving blood.”
Peter Friedel of the Riley County EMS said the blood drive is the most important goal of the event.
“It’s very important to donate blood,” Friedel said. “O-negative is a universal donor, so that’s a more sought-after blood type.”
Riley County Police Detective Emmett Smith has been with the department for five years but Tuesday was the first time he’d participated in the event.
He said it was his day off and he thought it was a good use of his time.
“People all across America and across the world can benefit from it,” Smith said. “Whether they need your blood for transfusions, or your platelets or whatever tragedy that happens in their lives.
“It’s donations like these that help these people out.”
While EMS won the vote again, the fire department has won the traveling trophy the most with seven wins etched in it. MFD Battalion Chief Mark Whitehair said the competition between the agencies is all for fun.
“The rivalry is a lot of fun,” Whitehair said. “Between the three agencies we have a lot of good things to say about each other. It’s all competitive in nature and we have fun.”
