Local emergency-services departments are set to face off in the 17th annual Battle of the Badges blood drive.
The friendly competition will take place at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, which is located at 2900 Kimball Ave., on July 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and July 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m..
In a addition to giving blood, donors will have a chance to vote for either the Riley County Police Department, Riley County Emergency Medical Services or the Manhattan Fire Department.
“We all wear a lot of different hats,” Gregg Van De Creek, a captain in the Manhattan Fire Department, said. “I feel like blood donations is just one of those other hats that we wear to help people any way we can. It means a lot to us.”
This year’s competition will look a little different than it has in past years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
It will not include a cook out and quite as many RCPD, EMS or MFD employees present who are attempting to get votes from donors.
However, there will be prepackaged snacks, free t-shirts and COVID-19 antibody tests available to donors.
Officials are hoping that the COVID-19 antibody test, which helps determine whether a person has been previously infected with the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, will serve as an incentive to donate.
“Accidents still happen, traumatic injuries still happen and there is still that need for blood product in hospitals so that we can care for people,” James Marstall, community outreach coordinator for Riley County EMS, said. “The new antibody testing that we’re doing this year hopefully will bring people out and give us a fair amount of that blood that hospitals need.”
Donors can find out the results of their antibody test through the American Red Cross Blood Donor App or through their donor-profile at redcrossblood.org.
Those who participate will be doing so during a time when demand is ramping up.
“We had seen a decrease in that need for blood when there were not those elective surgeries taking place, but all of that is starting to pick back up,” Kristi Ingalls, account manager for the American Red Cross, said. “Hospitals are getting busy again and so we need to ensure that that blood is on the shelf.”
According to Ingalls, they hope to collect 162 pints of blood on July 20 and 119 pints on July 21 for a total end-goal of 281 pints.
Goals for this year’s drive are based on what has been accomplished in past years.
The American Red Cross collected 284 pints of blood during the 2019 Battle of the Badges drive, falling just four pints short of its goal of 288 pints.
RCPD won the 2018 Battle of the Badges, followed by EMS in 2019.
Despite being a year removed from victory, Rachel Pate, interim RCPD public information officer, has confidence her department can win again in 2020.
“We have a lot of employees who are planning on making appointments,” Pate said. “A lot of people are excited for Monday and maybe to bring the trophy back to RCPD.”
While there will be fewer MFD, RCPD and EMS employees vying for votes at the drive in-person this year, the departments will be putting out social-media content leading up to the event.
Donations are by appointment only. To schedule a donation appointment, visit redcrossblood.org, or call 1-800-733-2767. Appointments can also be set up through the American Red Cross Blood Donor App.
Those wanting to find out if they are eligible to donate blood can call the eligibility hotline at 1-866-236-3276.
