“Even one (suicide) death is too many,” said Sean Byrne, executive director of United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma.

That’s why Garfield County Suicide Prevention Task Force was formed. The goal is to address the issues surrounding suicide in the area.

The first meeting will be noon Aug. 18 at the United Way office, 2300 N. 10th, in the OnviSource building.

“We have been talking about it for probably about six months,” Byrne said. “We had a recent death in the community and we thought it would be a good time to get it started. We are trying to get everyone together that might be involved with this issue and get their opinions, view and input.”

According to the 2008 Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Epidemiological profile, there were 593 suicide deaths in Oklahoma. Fourteen were in Garfield County. The task force hopes to reduce the number of suicides.

“One loss is too many,” Byrne said.

He said the purpose of the meeting will be to discuss local statistics, resources and needs in the area, suicide prevention programs and strategies for teen through elderly populations, training needs and survivor support groups.

“We want to address the issue of prevention. We have recently received some funding for some training,” said Taylor Randolph, clinical director at Youth and Family Services of North Central Oklahoma.

Tippi Rasp, a counselor with YFS, recently attended the Oklahoma Suicide Prevention Conference, where she received training regarding suicide from nationally known leaders in the field. She plans to share information with the recently formed task force.

Byrne hopes the group eventually can help educate the public about suicide and the issues surrounding it.

“There are things the professionals can do and there are things teachers and the public can do,” he said. “There is a lot of information the general public can get. It can’t be left just to the professionals.”

With the information provided to the public, the task force is interested in getting knowledge out about the means and methods used in suicides.

“We want to inform people about the lethal means in their own home, often a gun or medications. They don’t have to go out and find the means,” Byrne said. “We are not promoting gun control, but if they have a depressed person in their home, they may want to take action.”

Rasp said the group wants to restrict the access to the means people use to commit suicide.

“Overwhelmingly, the completed suicides are with firearms, and Oklahoma happens to be a state where we have a lot of guns. We like to hunt and shoot,” she said.

According to ODMHSAS, of the 593 suicide deaths in Oklahoma in 2008, 354, or 59 percent, were by firearm; 111, or 19 percent, were by hanging; and 88, or 15 percent, were by drugs/poisons. Other suicide methods include asphyxia, stab/incised, carbon monoxide, fire, electrocution, vehicular/train and drowning.

When a suicide happens, the survivors of the event often have questions, Byrne said. The task force also hopes to increase awareness of support groups.

“When you are dealing with suicide there is a lot of guilt. ‘Should I have done something? Could I have done something?’ That is why support groups are so important,” Byrne said.

Several organizations will be involved in Garfield County Suicide Prevention Task Force, including RSVP, Youth and Family Services, Rural Health Projects, counseling centers, hospitals, local businesses, Garfield County Health Department and other divisions of local government.

“We also have survivors of suicides that have contacted us. This is not a support group, but we want to get their input,” Byrne said.

Anyone interested or involved in the issue is encouraged to attend the Aug. 18, but should contact Byrne at 237-0821.

“We have a task force for everything else but not suicide,” he said.