DAYTON – Tipp City Fire Chief Cameron Haller answered the call again to help save lives by donating platelets for his milestone 100th lifetime donation March 28 at the Solvita Dayton Center.

“I noticed I was getting close at the end of 2022,” said Haller. “I thought, ‘I think I can hit it.’” For a fire chief, that meant lights, sirens, and more urgency. He stepped up his pace, making 14 platelet and plasma donations in 2023. He reached 100 with his fourth donation of the year.

Haller made his first donation while serving in the U.S. Navy. In 1995 he joined the Sidney Fire Department and worked there for 23 years. He retired as deputy fire chief in 2019 to become Tipp City Fire chief.

His first ever donation with Community Blood Center (now Solvita) was a platelet donation in 1997, but his routine became whole blood donations.

“We had a deputy chief at the Sidney Fire Department who had donated a long time,” he said. “He would always try to get people to donate, so that’s how I got started. In Shelby County, there are blood drives every month. I thought it was a great way to give back.”

He donated primarily whole blood up until 2019, and since then has exclusively donated platelet and plasma.

“I came back to doing platelets because it can help cancer patients,” he said. “My family has been affected by cancer, like a lot of families. It’s my way to fight it, or at least try to help.”

It can be challenging balancing a platelet donation schedule with firefighter duties. “I come about once a month and I try to plan office work on days that I donate,” he said.

“From serving in the Navy to the fire department, I’ve been a public servant my whole life. It’s my thing.”

Schedule an appointment to donate with Solvita (formerly Community Blood Center) on the Donor Time app, by calling 937-461-3220, or at www.donortime.com.