Serving with Lifeline – when the rubber hits the road

From the worst drought in our lifetime which saw Lifeline working with communities that were on the brink of extinction, some with stories nothing short of tragic.

A fire disaster emerges, ripping across the land, the likes in which none of us have ever seen in our lifetime. Chief Excecutive Officer, Lifeline Central West, Stephanie Robinson takes us on her nine- week journey representing Lifeline Central West with five Orange co-workers alongside her, visiting some of the hardest hit areas. Rewind to what feels like only a few months ago, January 13.

With very few hours off and only a few short visits home. I knew what I was witnessing was something I hadn’t seen before, and I have seen a lot in both my current and former professional roles. The sheer scope of the devastation and trauma was difficult to take in and I personally found it hard to know where to start.

When we first arrived, we were getting police escorts through townships that were still on fire.

Some weeks we have had up to eight people and three vehicles attending to crisis interventions, community meetings, recovery centres, relief centres, round table meetings, council meetings, community recovery planning meetings, just dozens of events and over 60 outreach visits to people considered to be high risk. We had 12 interventions, in fact I had to leave a meeting we were having as we had a call from a farmer who wasn’t in a good frame of mind. He would say we saved his life that day. Incidentally whilst driving there a call came in on the radio [from work we did in December] that wanted to share that they were alive today because of our face to face support.

We were on the road very early in the morning to very late at night. We couldn’t be everywhere although we wanted to be and we were being pulled in all different directions. We did a lot of outreach to places where people were camped or living amongst the ruins of their properties. I think that was really special actually going there and meeting them. It was quite confronting but also amazing because I know how much the support has helped them.

I thought it was very telling when veteran paramedic Paul Featherstone told me after his week that he has never seen so many people, all emotionally on the brink, in all his life, anywhere in the world.

Each and every day we were flagged down by Police, concerned neighbours, truck drivers, individuals needing support and sometimes just a person who wants to grab us to give us a hug and say thank you. One night I was getting dinner and a trio of fellas called me over saying ‘hey Lifeline lady…’ they were three fire and rescue guys who had fought the fires all summer, then that day had spent it looking for their mate after a boating accident. I was able to support them just by being there in my Lifeline t shirt, they recognised immediately that they could talk to me.

One lady whose story really impacted me was a grandmother whose daughter lived at Bermagui, she was ringing saying ‘Mum I’m scared, we need to keep our house safe,’ the Grandmother said, ‘bring the grandbabies to me, I’ll look after them,’ so that’s what she did and the fire changed, the daughter has gone back to her home and the fire went to the grandmothers house. The flames were coming up through the floor, she had them huddled together, having to keep them thinking ‘we will be ok’ and they will come and rescue us soon.

There were dozens of stories like that. You couldn’t help but be impacted by them.

We were also lucky enough to see some smiling faces. We had a fashion parade, where boutique shops donating beautiful new clothing to women who had lost everything. We put on an afternoon tea and they modelled the clothing, it was incredible to see it bring such joy to them.

I have never been so proud as to represent Lifeline. It was incredibly humbling to see fire impacted communities and individuals trust us, trust our brand with no hesitation. Always warmly accepted and one individual exclaimed he just felt better knowing that we were there. Whether it be face to face or at the end of a phone line there was that comfort (and expectation) that we would be there to listen without judgement, with compassion and empathy that is not replicated anywhere. The unique skill set of a Crisis Supporter stood out no matter what environment we were in.

We have since maintained phone contact with multiple people and we are really excited to get back down there really within the next week or two.

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