This year's Battle of the Badges blood drive came down to one unit.
The 88-89 victory for the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office came after five days of blood donations via mobile bus locations at both the Catoosa and Walker County sheriff's offices and the Fort Oglethorpe Blood Assurance location.
Citizens and officers alike lined up to give. With both sheriff's offices reporting wait times on the mobile donation vans stationed outside their offices, some Catoosa County officers gave up their scheduled slots to community citizens waiting in line, said Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk.
Even so, a Catoosa win wasn't always clear.
On the first day, Walker and Catoosa were tied at 57 units each. Though Catoosa ultimately eked out the win, Walker actually had more two donors than Catoosa. But in the world of blood donations, there are two ways to collect units: whole blood, as is most common, or using the ALYX machine which collects up to two units per donation, for which Catoosa had more donors.
"The sheriff's office gladly receives this recognition on behalf of all the donors that supported this drive," Sisk said in a press release.
Walker holds three wins over Catoosa's two, but both claimed all-time-high collections this year.
Historically, blood donations are low in the summer due to summer travel, sports activities and the lack of blood drives hosted by schools, said Chip Catlett, chairman of the North Georgia Advisory Board of Blood Assurance. So five years ago, the Battle of the Badges began as a friendly competition for a good cause.
"The need is greater [in the summer], but we don't have the donor base. So we have to get creative with our blood drives during the summer," Catlett said. "One of those ways is Battle of the Badges."
The combined 177 units of blood collected will go to local hospitals. According to the American National Red Cross, one donation can save up to three lives. With the blood donated during this drive, there's a potential to save up to 490 lives.
For next year, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said they hope to expand the use of mobile donation trucks to get more citizens involved. Both he and Sisk sit on Blood Assurance's North Georgia advisory board.
This year's loss, Wilson said, makes his desire to win stronger.
"The thing is, the people who needed the blood are the real winners," said Wilson.
Email Sabrina Bodon at sbodon@timesfreepress.com.