Father’s quest grows into 4,000-member heroin prevention task force

Newsrooms across the commonwealth have spent years documenting the opioid crisis in their own communities. But now, in the special project State of Emergency: Searching for Solutions to Pennsylvania’s Opioids Crisis, we are marshalling resources to spotlight what Pennsylvanians are doing to try to reverse the soaring number of overdose deaths.

WITF is releasing more than 60 stories, videos and photos throughout July. This week, you will find stories about initial response and how addition affects families.

 

HONESDALE — Suzie Calkin Frisch’s phone rang at 10:30 p.m.

“Suzie, I did it,” said the woman on the other end.

The woman used the Narcan kit and training Frisch’s group, the Wayne County Heroin Prevention Task Force, provided to revive her son from his drug overdose.

“She had the confidence and courage and she did it,” said Frisch, the group’s president. “It makes you do it another day for sure.”

Established in 2014, just as the opioid epidemic began gaining traction in the national conversation, the group of Wayne County residents banded together to educate others on the signs and symptoms of drug abuse, support law enforcement and provide hands-on Narcan training.

Frisch said that she knows of five occasions where someone they trained to use the opioid antidote used it to save a loved one’s life. There could be more, she said.

The opioid epidemic has ravaged the country. Wayne County has not been spared. In 2016, there were 17 drug-related deaths in the rural county, according to the annual state Coroner’s Association Drug Report, the latest finalized statistic available.

In February, the Wayne County coroner’s office said that there were 11 overdoses in 2017, but cautioned the number may rise.

The task force began after founder Gerald Margrarf watched news reports about drugs and feared for his children’s future. He passed off the group’s leadership to Frisch, his vice president at the time. The task force now has nearly 4,000 members on Facebook.

“Early detection is not just for cancer,” Frisch said.

The task force organizes events, speaks at schools, post resources and share articles. Upon Frisch’s urging, it is not uncommon for members to share where they see discarded needles and for her, and others, to go to the spot to safely dispose of them.

Many members have been personally affected by addiction, a passion that drives them, Frisch said. Some of the task force’s seven board members are in recovery.

Drew Rusich, the group’s vice president, is in recovery and became involved when Margrarf asked him to speak at an event. For many, the task force serves as a support network.

“This young girl came up to me and said ‘how do you know if someone is an addict? I think my dad’s an addict,’” Rusich said. “We talked for a few minutes and I gave her some resources. I feel like being able to talk to us was important for her.”

Frisch’s passion to help began with her son.

In 2008, he was hospitalized for complications from his cancer treatment and became addicted to opioids. His addiction progressed to heroin and, by 2009, she sought information on a problem that no one was discussing.

People are talking about it now, even though there’s still shame, she said. They come to the Narcan training she does at least once a month. Still, she readily acknowledges there isn’t one answer to solve the opioid crisis.

“It’s like moving a piano,” she said.

It takes a group.