Hear why one Colorado Springs firefighter is donating blood for a cause close to his heart
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Blood donations have the power to save lives, and the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) is calling on the community to help make a difference at their quarterly blood drives this year – the first scheduled for Feb. 26.
The blood drives support a department initiative launched last year, when CSFD medical lieutenants became the first in the state to carry whole blood (type O) to emergency scenes. The move allows them to administer life-saving blood transfusions before patients even reach the hospital.
But the department's request for donations is not just about saving lives on the frontlines. For Lieutenant Brian Kurtz, donating blood is personal – he donates to honor his late wife Annie, who died after a battle with leukemia.
Kurtz said he was on duty when he got a phone call from Annie, who had received lab results showing she was extremely anemic. When they arrived at the hospital, he says the first thing doctors did was gave her whole blood to get her blood properties back up.
"The immediate gift of getting emergency blood in the emergency room gave me valuable time with the person I love the most," Kurtz said in a video posted to CSFD's Facebook account. "It gave us time to process as a family what was happening. It gave us time to make clear decisions and figure out what route of procedures and what route of treatment to go down."
Kurtz said that he's inspired to give blood in her honor to ensure others can have that extra time with their loved ones.
"We have an opportunity to give people moments to years to lifetimes of time, and that's one thing that you'll never get back is time. There's no better gift than time, and it was whole blood that gave us all that time," he said. "It's a priceless, priceless donation."
Hear Lt. Kurtz's story here:
Blood drive information
CSFD is hosting quarterly blood drives, in partnership with Vitalant, at Fire Station 19, located at 2490 Research Parkway. The first blood drive of the year will be on Wednesday, Feb. 26 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The other blood drives this year are scheduled for May 7, Aug. 11 and Nov. 4.
At CSFD's first blood drive event in October 2024, 53 donors showed up – 23 of which were first time donors. The department said they received 56 units of blood, which equates to 168 lives saved.
The department said all blood types are welcomed and encouraged to donate, but you must schedule an appointment in order to give blood. You can sign up to donate here.
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