Watch: Boots & Badges Blood Drive Underway In Owasso

The state is facing a critical blood shortage. To combat that, blood drives are happening around Green Country.

Boots and Badges Blood Drives are competitions between the fire and police departments.

There is a greater need for blood in the summer, and the Owasso Boots and Badges Blood Drive at the Owasso Community Center is part of a statewide effort to help the supply.

"You've got heat, you've got people out on vacation. One of our biggest threats to the blood supply is school's not in,” said Susan Addison, Senior Account Manager with Oklahoma Blood Institute.

Addison said several factors contribute to the lack of blood this season.

She said since the pandemic, it's been a struggle to keep up with the need.

That's where Boots and Badges Blood Drives come in to encourage people to donate. Each donor gets a snack, a t-shirt, and a vote.

"Whenever people come in, they get to plant their flag. Either they're on the police side or the fire department side. And they have a trophy that goes back and forth once a year to see which side is going to win,” Lt. Boatman said.

Addison said patients need blood for all kinds of reasons like disease, emergencies, and labor.

Twelve hundred units of blood are needed daily across the state.

"And you just never know when it's going to affect your family. We all have a one in three odds in our lifetime of needing blood,” Addison said.

Several other Boots and Badges Blood Drives are coming up including in Claremore, Miami, and Grove.