NASHVILLE, Tenn. –The Tennessee Titans and their official healthcare provider, Saint Thomas Health joined the Davidson County Metro Police, Sheriff and Fire Departments for the Saint Thomas Health "Give and Get" Battle of the Badges blood drive at Nissan Stadium.

"We are standing here in the heart of Nashville and Nissan Stadium, the home of the Titans and they are so good to host us," said Chief Steve Anderson, Davidson County Metro Police Department.  "You have the police department, the fire department and the sheriff's office and we are competing for the citizens of Nashville.  The people that are giving here today are saving lives."

"We want and need to get everybody excited," said Sheriff Daron Hall, Davidson County Sheriff's Office.  "The ultimate sacrifice that has been given lately is something that sits home for most of the folks here."

The blood drive is middle Tennessee's largest blood drive and comes at an important time for the Red Cross.  Blood and platelet donations often decline during the summer months when busy summer schedules and vacation plans can cause some donors to be less available to give.  The need for blood remains constant all summer long.

"We are very glad to be hosting this important competition between our sheriff's office, our police and fire department, said Titans President & CEO Steve Underwood.  "We see relationships, the need and here we see friendly competition.  Some of you know of the urgent calls made by the blood donors' agencies all over the county because of the shortages that exist currently."

The afternoon kicked off with a mascot dance competition between Titans mascot T-Rac, Nashville Sounds Booster the Rooster, SheRuff from the Sheriff's office, Splash from Metro Water Services, Curby from Nashville Public Works and the Chick-fil-A Cow who broke out their best funky moves to Michael Jackson's "Beat It".    

"Today's event is something that is critical to the Red Cross and any first responder but we all know how important it is that you donate blood, said Deputy Director Chief Mike Franklin, Nashville Fire Department.

Donors were also able to enter the national bone marrow registry through the partnership of Delete Blood Cancer DKMS. Delete Blood Cancer DKMS started with one family's search for a bone marrow donor and is today part of the world's largest bone marrow donor center. The organization has helped register more than 5 million potential donors and facilitated close to 48,000 transplants around the world. Delete Blood Cancer DKMS provided the opportunity for people to register as potential donors at the event by completing a registration form and a cheek swab.

Saint Thomas Health nurses and STEMS were onsite providing a neuro workshop and beneficial information on stroke and heat exhaustion.

The Davidson County Sheriff's Office was the winner of the competition but all departments exceeded their results from last year making hospital patients the true winners.

Each day, our law and fire enforcements help save lives on the job and today they joined together to help save potentially another 1,020 more lives from the 340 collected pints of blood which represents only a small fraction of the important work that they do throughout the year.

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or on Twitter at @RedCross.

About DKMS

DKMS is part of the world's largest network of donor centers. Our mission is to build the number of suitable bone marrow and stem cell donors, because we believe that no life should be lost due to an inability to find a donor match. We have registered more than 6 million potential donors and facilitated more than 55,000 transplants around the world. But we're not stopping there. We lead the fight against blood cancer by working with families, communities and organizations to recruit donors and provide more patients with second chances at life. For more information or to register as a bone marrow donor, please visit DeleteBloodCancer.org.

About Saint Thomas Health

Saint Thomas Health is Middle Tennessee's faith-based, not-for-profit health care system united as one healing community. With more than 6,500 associates, Saint Thomas Health is focused on transforming the health care experience and helping people live healthier lives, with special attention to the poor and vulnerable. The regional health system includes – Saint Thomas Hospital for Spinal Surgery, Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital and Saint Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro and Saint Thomas Hickman Hospital in Centerville – as well as four hospitals in the Capella-Saint Thomas Health network. A comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures, medical practices, clinics and rehabilitation facilities complement the hospital services and cover a 68-county area. Saint Thomas Health is a member of Ascension Health, a Catholic organization that is the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States. For more information, visit www.STHealth.com.

About Ascension

Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world's largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all with special attention to persons in poverty and struggling the most. In FY2015, Ascension provided nearly $2 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Approximately 150,000 associates and 35,000 aligned providers serve in 1,900 sites of care – including 129 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to healthcare delivery, Ascension subsidiaries provide a variety of services and solutions including physician practice management, venture capital investing, treasury management, biomedical engineering, clinical care management, information services, risk management, and contracting through Ascension's own group purchasing organization.