PICKENS — After a year of fundraising, the Pickens Rotary Club donated seven portable defibrillators to four organizations in the county.

The devices, known as Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), are designed to restore a regular heart rhythm during sudden cardiac arrest.

The club had originally planned on purchasing six of the life saving devices but ended up raising enough money to buy seven — with one on the way.

“I’ve been teaching CPR/AED for seven years and I have a 17-year history working for the YMCA in some capacity,” said Pickens Rotary president Ryan Smith. “Our Pickens County association had been around for 55 years before we had to use CPR or an AED on anybody — and that happened about two years ago in January. The Powdersville (YMCA) branch had been around six months. They had an incident (where an AED was used) in December.”

Smith said the AED is the number three link in the chain of survival, just behind early recognition of a problem and calling for help and administering CPR.

“The quicker we can use an AED on someone experiencing cardiac arrest, the greater their chances are of survival,” he said.

Pickens Rotary raised $5,000 with Ride to the Rock and secured a matching grant from the club’s district Rotary foundation.

Cheri Anthony, director of the Pickens Recreation Department, accepted an AED at a presentation during the club’s regular meeting on Wednesday.

“Hopefully we will never have to use this,” said Anthony. “We have had no incidences and I’ve been with the rec department for 20 years. Hopefully that will continue to be the case until I retire.”

Pickens County Meals on Wheels was the recipient of two devices for the McKissick Center in Liberty — one for each floor.

PCMOW executive director Meta Bowers said that in the year and a half the McKissick Center has been open, they have not had cause to use an AED but have had medical emergencies. In particular, there has been a case of stroke and then recently an incidence of low blood sugar that caused a woman to become unresponsive.

“It’s something that we hope we never have to address but in our line of work, it’s certainly a possibility,” said Bowers.

Pickens Rotary also gave two AEDs — one now, one still on order — to Dale Harward and John Munzert from the Pickens Senior Center, a non-profit that provides recreational activities and communal meals to seniors in the area.

The club has over 300 members and feeds around 60 every Tuesday night, said Harward.

“It’s a well used facility and it’s a long facility so we appreciate two of these (AEDs),” he said. “It’s a long ways from one end of the building to the other.”

The last two defibrillators were donated to Pickens Presbyterian Church.

“The church not only serves its congregants but is home to a host of other activities,” said Smith. “Their meeting room, where we are right now, hosts several clubs and organizations.”

Kay Rentz accepted the AEDs on behalf of the church.

“All the people who enter this building will be able to benefit from this, we can’t thank you enough,” she said.

Dale Harward, left, and John Munzert, second left, from the Pickens Senior Center received life saving portable AEDs from the Pickens Rotary Club presented Rotary president Ryan Smith, in the orange shirt. Executive director of PCMOW Meta Bowers, fourth left; Kay Rentz, center, Marvin Short, third right, and Nath Briley, right, of Pickens Presbyterian also received the AEDs as did Cheri Anthony, second right, of the Pickens Rec Center.
https://www.theeasleyprogress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_191.jpgDale Harward, left, and John Munzert, second left, from the Pickens Senior Center received life saving portable AEDs from the Pickens Rotary Club presented Rotary president Ryan Smith, in the orange shirt. Executive director of PCMOW Meta Bowers, fourth left; Kay Rentz, center, Marvin Short, third right, and Nath Briley, right, of Pickens Presbyterian also received the AEDs as did Cheri Anthony, second right, of the Pickens Rec Center. Christine Wyatt | The Sentinel-Progress

By Kasie Strickland

kstrickland@civitasmedia.com

Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.