DOWAGIAC — On Friday, members of the community and public safety departments saved lives, one donation at a time.

At the Dowagiac Public Safety and Fire Department’s American Red Cross blood drive, a steady crowd of volunteers entered the fire department’s training and fire bay to donate blood.

Michell Outlaw, the coordinator of the drive, who spoke with an American Red Cross representative on Monday, confirmed 79 people had presented to donate, and 60 units of blood were collected at the drive. This equates to saving 180 lives in a single day. Eleven volunteers also showed up to help check people in and monitor them after their donations. The Battle of the Badges drive collected more units of blood in Dowagiac than any other drive recorded in the past 10 years, a representative told Outlaw.

Those who donated had the opportunity to donate on behalf of the fire department or public safety
department.

At the end of the drive, Outlaw, who is also the executive secretary at the Dowagiac Police Department, said the public safety department lost to the fire department by three votes. As the losers, the public safety department will be making the fire department dinner. 

“This has been amazing to see the community really step up,” Outlaw said. “We’ve had several couples already just happened to be driving by, and they said they wanted to stop and be part of the community.”

The event all began with the idea to do something for the holidays without having to cost members of the community money. Through the blood drive, people were able to give back in a different way, Outlaw said.

The Battle of the Badges blood drive comes at a time when the American Red Cross is noticing a trend of needing less blood because hospitals have become smarter with how they use blood, said James Lanning, a donor recruitment representative for the American Red Cross. However, Lanning said the American Red Cross has noticed a decline in donors.

Lanning, who has been in his role for more than 10 years, works with businesses, schools, churches and anyone in Berrien, Van Buren, Cass and Kalamazoo counties to set up blood drives, recruit donors and put on the actual drives.

With fewer people donating, blood is still needed for the three areas: cancer, car accidents and anything hospital related, Lanning said. Blood is also being used for other instances. For example, cells can be taken from plasma and used for burn victims.

Overall, people have not changed, if anything, reluctance to donate can be time related, Lanning said.

He used his own life as an example. Lanning, 44, of Dowagiac, has a 15-year-old child and 7-year-old child. During the week, when he is not driving his children to sports practices or band events, finding the time to donate and a venue in proximity can be a challenge.

The fall of civic organizations like Lions Clubs, Elks Clubs and other volunteer organizations, has also contributed to fewer donors, Lanning said, as it is tougher to find volunteers and venues.

When hosting a blood drive, size can impact how many units of blood the American Red Cross can collect, but another factor is equally as important to the success of a blood drive — community participation.

People can donate blood every 56 days, so when Lanning searches for organizations to host blood drives, he ideally wants one hosted every 56 days. A normal blood drive will collect between 35 and 40 units of blood, but Dowagiac is different, Lanning said.

“In Dowagiac, I can put on three or four blood drives in that amount of time, and they will still collect 30 to 40 units,” Lanning said. “What’s surprising and shocking to me is how giving that community is versus another community that might be that same size. A lot of it has to do with the actual community you are in.”

Lanning called Dowagiac one of the “strangest” communities he manages, but in a good way.

With the local safety departments hosting a blood drive, it can attract a new group of donors, who maybe have never donated before. These are the kind of donors the American Red Cross needs to grow its blood supply.

“I love my regular donors,” Lanning said. “When I see a donor who has donated 25 gallons, it’s amazing. But, in order to grow the blood supply, we need new drives to go on so we get some donors that might come in more regularly.”

By hosting blood drives at new locations and with new organizations, Lanning said the American Red Cross also raises awareness about its need for blood.

“They will hear that, and then they will donate again,” Lanning said. “It’s a great thing.”

Outlaw said she plans to make the Battle of the Badges an annual blood drive for the safety
departments.

“It’s nice to see the community support both departments,” Outlaw said.