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The Boots and Badges Blood Drive is going on inside the gymnasium next to Dewey High School.

Susan Addison, an Account Consultant with the Oklahoma Blood Institute, said it is hot outside and hospital patients are counting on blood donations. She said 1 in 7 hospital patients will need a blood transfusion during the course of their care and they want to make sure that they are helping car accident patients, cancer patients, and heart attack victims.

No matter the reason, they want to make sure they have blood on the shelf and ready to go when it is needed.

Dewey Police Chief Mike Shea explained that they put on the event because if people need blood, they need to get as many donors as they can. He said people that are involved in Police or Fire Department matters in the Dewey community or the entire State of Oklahoma may need to be the recipient of the blood in the long run.

Brayden Wano with Dewey Fire agreed with Chief Shea. He said they want to get as many donations as they can in a competitive effort between the Fire Station and the Police Department. Every time someone makes a blood donation, people choose what side the want to represent.

This is the fifth year for the Boots and Badges Blood Drive. They will be at the gymnasium until 6:00 p.m.