ASHEVILLE, N.C. — It’s been some years since Jack Ramsey was a firefighter. He retired in 1999.

“Something that always appealed to me from the very youngest age,” he said. “I can’t give you a specific answer, it’s just always had a lifelong appeal.”

       What You Need to Know:

• Law enforcement agencies in Asheville competed in the Battle of the Badges
• It's the 12th year the annual competition has been held
• Last year, the Buncombe County Sheriff's Dept. donated the most
• Jack Ramsey has been donating blood for over 50 years
• He still donates even though he retired from the Asheville Fire Department in 1999

But even to this day, he still donates blood in the Asheville Battle of the Badges. It’s an annual competition between law enforcement agencies to see which can donate the most.

“As a retired firefighter with the Battle of the Badges, I wanted to give the nod to my girls and boys at the Asheville Fire Department,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey is a veteran when it comes to the competition.

“This is not my first rodeo,” he said with a laugh.

The numbers back that claim up.

“According to their records, I’ve donated 85 pints,” he said. “That’s in the span of 50-60 years.”

Ramsey isn’t the only one who gives regularly. Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Captain Angie Tullis is known as a "super donor" because of how often she gives.

“I have donated since I was 18 years old, and I’m now almost 47,” Capt. Tullis said. “My husband, a year and a half ago, had a serious illness, and we received quite a lot of blood.”

The local police department and sheriff’s office, like many other industries, are struggling with labor shortages. But Tullis doesn’t think that’s a disadvantage.

“We show up,” she said, laughing. “I’m confident we’ll have the numbers again. We took it home last year.”

Right now, there’s a huge need. The American Red Cross says this is the worst national blood shortage in over a decade.

Overall, donations are down 10% since the pandemic started, with much of that coming because of schools and work going virtual.

“We’ve seen our levels of blood donation take a deep dive. It’s been the lowest in over a decade,” Mariana Vimbela, executive director of the American Red Cross of Western North Carolina, said. “So, we’ve had donor turnout decrease in 10%. We have blood drives that usually take place in high school in colleges have also dropped 64%.”

In Asheville, law enforcement is helping get those levels back up.