Honesdale. Rotary buys an AED for baseball association

When Adam Cottell of the Honesdale Little Baseball Association reached out to the Honesdale Rotary for help purchasing a life-saving device – an automated external defibrillator or AED – the club responded swiftly. “This was right in line with our mission to serve,” then-Rotary co-president Sherry Grandinetti said.

“We hope they never have to use it,” added current president Dana Scott, “but if someone suffers cardiac arrest – a player or a spectator—the AED is within reach here at the ball field.”

The Honesdale Little Baseball Association counts 160 players, ages 4-12 in its ranks in three leagues: T-Ball, Rookie and Senior.

“I first reached out to Wayne Memorial Hospital,” Cottell said, “and they put me in touch with Honesdale Rotary. We are very grateful. It’s a relief to know we have an AED on hand if needed.”

Sudden cardiac arrest is the number-one cause of death among athletes, and cardiovascular disease remains the number-one killer of both men and women in the United States. An AED is an easy-to-use, medical device that can, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm. AEDs recently received national attention when one was used to save the life of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, who collapsed on the field in Cincinnati in January.

Honesdale Rotary’s close to 40 members work to benefit the local community and the world at large. Other local projects include providing shelves and a refrigeration unit for the Wayne County Food Pantry and restoring the Fred Miller Pavilion in Honesdale. In recent years, the club also donated an AED to Honesdale Friends of Soccer and helped build a new batting cage at Honesdale Little Baseball’s Grove Street field. New members welcome. Visit Honesdale Rotary on Facebook.

Photo front: Camden Bunting, Tanner Cottell. Back: Matt Abbott, Chris Tallman, Paul Bunting, Adam Cottell, Rotary Past President Sherry Grandinetti, current President Dana Scott, Charlie Rollison, Rotarian Lisa Champeau.