Community members are familiar with being asked to bleed green, but now they are being asked to support a cause they might not be so familiar with -- bleed for a badge.
For the first time, Green River emergency response teams will compete in the Battle of the Badges, a blood drive supporting emergency responders in Sweetwater County.
Tom Murphy, City of Green River Fire Prevention Chief, said last year Rock Springs hosted a Battle of the Badge between its emergency-response teams, including the Rock Springs Police Department, Rock Springs Fire Department and Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Department.
This year, Rock Springs has invited Green River agencies, including the Green River Fire Department, Castle Rock Ambulance and Green River Police Department to compete. Murphy is excited about the challenge and has already picked out a place to call the traveling trophy home.
Next week on Monday from 3-7 p.m. and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rock Springs residents can give blood at the John Bunning Freight Station, which is downtown next to the railroad. Green River residents can give blood Wednesday from 3-7 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Green River Recreation Center.
After residents give blood, they will be given a token. They can then place this token in one of the many coffee cans in place. Each coffee can will have a department’s logo on it.
“Whoever has the most tokens in their can gets a plaque,” Murphy said. “We want everyone to put it in the Green River Fire Departments. We want the plaque.”
Those who would like to be entered into door prizes will need preregister for the event by going to the website http://www.bloodhero.com. Once on the website, click on the “locate a blood donor” icon. There are three different ways to search for the Battle of the Badges blood drive. The easiest way is to search by the zip code. Simply type in the zip code and the day of the blood drive, which for Green River is June 15. Click search. Then click the day to give blood and select a donation time.
Murphy said the benefit of registering ahead and selecting a time is it sort of works like a fast pass. If there is a long line of walk ins, a preregistered person will not have to wait, at least not too long, he said.
“They will try to make sure they can keep your 3 o’clock appointment,” Murphy said.
Although only those who preregister will be entered into the door-prize drawing, all of those who donate blood, whether walk ins or preregistered folks, will receive a Battle of the Badge blood drive T-shirt.
Putting the competition aside, Murphy said it is important for residents to donate blood to United Blood Services.
“It’s a great cause. People can go out and give blood for whoever needs it,” he said.
Touch-A-Truck
When the GRFD isn’t busy fighting fires or backing the ambulance on calls, its employees are trying to attend as many community events as possible.
“The GRFD is also trying to help out other things in the community,” Murphy said.
This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the GRFD will be at the Rock Springs Family Recreation Center parking lot for the Touch-A-Truck event. During this event, the GRFD will hook up one of its fire trucks to a fire hydrant. They will then let children turn on the fire hose.
“Kids love it. They get to spray the water from the fire truck,” Murphy said.
Not a lot of children will get the opportunity like that. Police vehicles, heavy equipment and other trucks will also be at the center for children to investigate and climb on. This is a real hands-on event. Another perk is, it is also free.
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