Cops win Battle of the Badges
CAROLYN BOSTICK | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 1 week AGO
Amy Valdez, administrative assistant for Coeur d’Alene Fire Department, donates blood during the Battle of the Badges at Kootenai County Fire and Rescue on Thursday.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
Carolyn Bostick has worked for the Coeur d’Alene Press since June 2023. She covers Shoshone County and Coeur d'Alene. Carolyn previously worked in Utica, New York at the Observer-Dispatch for almost seven years before briefly working at The Inquirer and Mirror in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Since she moved to the Pacific Northwest from upstate New York in 2021, she's performed with the Spokane Shakespeare Society for three summers. | August 12, 2025 1:08 AM
POST FALLS — Police won bragging rights in this year’s Battle of the Badges blood drive at Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.
Donors like Amy Valdez from the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department turned out to help replenish the area’s blood supply.
“I’m out here supporting the firefighters, I usually give blood on the regular,” Valdez said.
Blood supply levels for O-negative blood are facing a critical need and all other blood types are facing an urgent need.
“Many people don't realize red blood cells only last 42 days. Platelets only last a week," Matt Pope of Vitalant said. "Add in the fact that one patient can use dozens of blood units (depending on severity), and that causes a need to have consistent, repeat donors in our supply.”
The final tally came in over the weekend that with 31 to 9, police racked up the most support among donors.
Overall, 25 units of blood were collected during the drive and another four units of blood were donated in the name of the event at the Vitalant collection center in Coeur d’Alene.
“That many units can help up to 75 folks in the hospital,” Pope said.
He said that out of over 60% of the population being eligible to donate, only about 3% actually do.
“Lots of people say, ‘You don't want my blood,’ when in reality, we want all the blood we can get," Pope said.
Sign up for blood donations at donors.vitalant.org
Upcoming blood drives:
Mountain West Bank, Thursday, 2 to 4:30 p.m., 2123 N. Government Way
Corporate Tools, Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon, 784 S. Clearwater Loop, Post Falls
Hayden Lake Stake, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 4 to 7:45 p.m., 477 E. Honeysuckle Ave.
Post Falls City Hall, Thursday, Aug. 28, 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., 408 N. Spokane St.
North Idaho Pride Alliance, Friday, Aug. 29, 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., 1470 W. Hanley Ave.
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