Responding to a Disaster with Lucy Easthope

The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have left thousands of people killed, trapped and injured, with numbers continually rising. We will be donating all profits from this episode to the Red Cross, to provide help to those affected by the recent earthquakes. 

Today, we’re returning to the conversation we had with Lucy Easthope, expert and adviser on emergency planning and disaster recovery. In this snippet, she details how she deals with disaster, from the 9/11 and the July bombings to COVID-19, and the skills she uses to navigate these scenarios. She shares how she is still able to find light, even in the darkest of situations. 

You can donate to help the people who have been affected by the crisis here: https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal

Bitesize clip from E119 - Lucy Easthope: Advice from an expert on overcoming disaster - https://pod.fo/e/120622

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this engaging conversation, Lucy Easthope, a globally recognized expert in emergency planning and disaster recovery, shares her insights on navigating disasters, drawing from her extensive experience in responding to crises such as 9/11, the July bombings, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lucy emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the needs of those affected by disasters, especially the deceased, bereaved, and survivors. She highlights the need for compassion, integrity, and self-care among disaster responders.

To effectively manage disasters, Lucy stresses the significance of having a clear plan that addresses key aspects such as securing the scene, locating affected individuals, assessing the severity of the situation, and providing immediate assistance. She emphasizes the need to adapt and learn from each disaster to improve future responses.

Lucy acknowledges the challenges of maintaining optimism in the face of adversity, especially in the aftermath of global events like the COVID-19 pandemic. She encourages individuals to be mindful of their media consumption and seek alternative sources of information to avoid becoming overwhelmed by negative news.

Lucy's resilience and unwavering optimism serve as an inspiration, demonstrating the importance of finding light even in the darkest of times. She emphasizes the preciousness of life and encourages individuals to cherish every moment with loved ones.

The episode concludes with a call to action, urging listeners to support the Red Cross's efforts in providing aid to those affected by the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. By listening to the podcast, listeners contribute to the donation drive, and they are encouraged to visit the link in the description to make additional contributions.

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[02:38.720 -> 02:41.680] welcome along to another bite-sized
[02:40.040 -> 02:43.440] episode of the high-performance
[02:41.680 -> 02:46.840] podcasts we were joined a few weeks ago
[02:43.440 -> 02:49.040] by Lindsay Burrow the wife of Rob Burrow, the former rugby league player who's suffering with
[02:49.040 -> 02:53.880] motor neuron disease, and we donated the profits from that podcast to the charity
[02:53.880 -> 02:57.520] that the two of them are supporting to stop other families going through the
[02:57.520 -> 03:02.020] same crisis that they are. And we would like to donate the profits from today's
[03:02.020 -> 03:10.920] episode of High Performance to charity as well because we're about to be joined by Lucy Eastope, who is a world-leading expert in disasters.
[03:10.920 -> 03:15.480] And as you would have seen in the last few days, there's been earthquakes in Turkey and
[03:15.480 -> 03:23.040] Syria which has left thousands of people killed, trapped and injured. And with every hour that
[03:23.040 -> 03:29.580] passes, the numbers rise. We know that, as I record this for you, rescuers are racing to save lives and we want to support
[03:29.580 -> 03:31.460] them in their efforts.
[03:31.460 -> 03:35.720] Therefore, the profits from today's podcast will be donated to the Red Cross and we've
[03:35.720 -> 03:40.340] also put a link in the description to this episode so that if you would like to donate,
[03:40.340 -> 03:41.340] then you can as well.
[03:41.340 -> 03:48.760] And of course, we send our love and thoughts to everyone affected by these earthquakes right around the world. But I think it's
[03:48.760 -> 03:54.220] a really salient time to share with you once again the work that Lucy's done, the
[03:54.220 -> 03:59.500] things that she's learned in her career as a disasters expert and I think from
[03:59.500 -> 04:02.800] the things that you hear in the next few minutes one thing that you won't forget
[04:02.800 -> 04:07.660] is how she still manages to find optimism in the darkest of times.
[04:08.620 -> 04:10.600] It was an incredible conversation we had with Lucy.
[04:10.600 -> 04:13.680] Of course, you can also listen to the full episode with her.
[04:13.680 -> 04:15.280] But right now, let's hear the thoughts
[04:15.280 -> 04:18.920] of the world-leading disasters expert, Lucy Eastope,
[04:18.920 -> 04:22.020] who joined us recently on the High Performance Podcast.
[04:23.580 -> 04:27.900] Sometimes it's doing the very best that you can do
[04:27.900 -> 04:30.860] for people at the very worst time of their lives.
[04:30.860 -> 04:33.920] So it's very hidden, it's very hard to audit,
[04:33.920 -> 04:36.580] it's very hard to go back to ask people,
[04:36.580 -> 04:39.820] did I perform well for you at the worst time of your lives?
[04:39.820 -> 04:41.700] So the way that we measure that sometimes
[04:41.700 -> 04:43.380] is very, very difficult.
[04:43.380 -> 04:49.060] There's a lot of skills and emotions that perhaps aren't classic in the definitions of
[04:49.060 -> 04:53.840] performance, so it's things like integrity and compassion and knowing
[04:53.840 -> 04:58.000] that when you have responded to a disaster you've taken everything from
[04:58.000 -> 05:02.480] any other previous event you've worked on and applied it to the
[05:02.480 -> 05:06.000] next one and that's something we do constantly and just
[05:06.000 -> 05:12.880] giving as much as you can but also I think as part of that there is a huge part of that that's also
[05:12.880 -> 05:18.880] looking after yourselves. You have to be very aware of what you are giving in this situation.
[05:19.840 -> 05:27.120] And what are you giving? So the very first thing I think about in a disaster response is what do
[05:27.120 -> 05:32.960] the people who never asked to be there need. So the first place that I'm going to is I'm caring
[05:32.960 -> 05:38.400] for the deceased, the bereaved and the survivors. Now I think one of the things that people haven't
[05:38.400 -> 05:46.080] realised about disaster management is we train constantly. We test, we write scenarios,
[05:49.520 -> 05:51.920] we plan, we set up pretend exercises, but the one group of people who aren't there
[05:51.920 -> 05:54.760] are the bereaved people, the people in the public,
[05:54.760 -> 05:55.920] the people in the shopping center,
[05:55.920 -> 05:58.920] the people in the cinema complex who weren't expecting this.
[05:58.920 -> 06:02.640] So one of my roles is to always advocate for them,
[06:02.640 -> 06:04.480] both when we do it in pretend,
[06:04.480 -> 06:05.900] but also when we do it for real,
[06:05.900 -> 06:07.900] because they don't necessarily know what they want.
[06:07.900 -> 06:09.900] They're just waiting for some news
[06:09.900 -> 06:11.400] that they're hoping they never get.
[06:11.400 -> 06:13.200] So my role is to say, hang on,
[06:13.200 -> 06:15.900] do you remember when, in the 1980s, for example,
[06:15.900 -> 06:18.900] you'd gather families together waiting for news of an incident,
[06:18.900 -> 06:21.200] and you wouldn't give them any tea or coffee.
[06:21.200 -> 06:22.900] There would be no drinks available.
[06:22.900 -> 06:25.520] And so sometimes, you sometimes, what I consider
[06:25.520 -> 06:28.400] the highest of performances can look really mundane.
[06:28.400 -> 06:31.240] It has everybody got warm clothes, a cup of tea,
[06:31.240 -> 06:32.080] somewhere safe.
[06:32.080 -> 06:34.600] They're away from perhaps a news drone.
[06:34.600 -> 06:37.640] And so it can look really operational and mundane.
[06:37.640 -> 06:40.360] And that's my first job before I get to thinking
[06:40.360 -> 06:42.000] about the longer term.
[06:42.000 -> 06:44.520] When a disaster happens, one of your biggest enemies
[06:44.520 -> 06:46.380] is the startle factor.
[06:46.380 -> 06:49.120] You know, the alarm goes off, like, what do I do?
[06:49.120 -> 06:51.200] And everybody feels that, right up to the highest
[06:51.200 -> 06:53.360] commanders of any organization.
[06:53.360 -> 06:56.720] And a plan, I write it in big font, bullet points,
[06:56.720 -> 06:59.040] it's not like a briefing report, it's really clear,
[06:59.040 -> 07:00.760] and you give that to the commander,
[07:00.760 -> 07:04.080] and it reminds them of some really basic, simple things
[07:04.080 -> 07:05.320] that they need to do.
[07:05.320 -> 07:09.900] And that's things like straight away securing the scene,
[07:09.900 -> 07:12.900] checking where the people who need you most have gone.
[07:12.900 -> 07:15.720] Often people fight and flight, so they leave the scene.
[07:15.720 -> 07:18.100] Most disasters right up until the current events
[07:18.100 -> 07:21.240] we're seeing, Manchester, Grenfell, people flee the scene
[07:21.240 -> 07:23.580] and we lose track of whether they need any support
[07:23.580 -> 07:24.580] from the agencies.
[07:24.580 -> 07:30.080] That's when your adrenaline kicks in. So one of the things is, have you offered somebody a place
[07:30.080 -> 07:36.560] to go? Then I'm asking how many people are affected? Often we don't have what's called
[07:36.560 -> 07:41.640] a manifest very, very quickly. So who's affected? Are there any things that make this particularly
[07:41.640 -> 07:45.000] painful or difficult? Is this a chemical or nuclear incident?
[07:45.000 -> 07:47.560] Is this something difficult and more challenging?
[07:47.560 -> 07:49.480] Is this affecting children?
[07:49.480 -> 07:51.880] Is this an arena where people went to have fun?
[07:51.880 -> 07:55.060] They did not go for something like this to happen.
[07:55.060 -> 07:56.720] How are people getting home?
[07:56.720 -> 07:59.560] How are people getting a message out to their loved ones?
[07:59.560 -> 08:00.960] And we work from a plan.
[08:00.960 -> 08:05.280] So I take that from each disaster to each exercise and then to
[08:05.280 -> 08:08.940] the next disaster and sometimes we forget stuff or we learn new stuff. So
[08:08.940 -> 08:12.120] something new will take us by surprise like the way for example over the last
[08:12.120 -> 08:17.440] decade people use smartphones is very different. People have finding apps on
[08:17.440 -> 08:22.240] their phones for example. So that changes the dynamic. Somebody's dad might have
[08:22.240 -> 08:25.840] got in the car just by realising that they're at the location
[08:25.840 -> 08:31.680] because they've got find your friend on the phone. So how we respond changes but there's always a key
[08:31.680 -> 08:37.280] template of compassions I think that travels. In many ways all of us now are survivors of a
[08:37.280 -> 08:41.840] disaster because we've all lived through a global pandemic that none of us were expecting to varying
[08:41.840 -> 08:47.840] degrees of impact on our lives. And I think we have a more pessimistic world now.
[08:47.840 -> 08:49.560] I think people struggle to see the good stuff
[08:49.560 -> 08:51.640] and the light because they've had to go through this.
[08:51.640 -> 08:56.180] You've spent years peering into the darkest, hardest places,
[08:56.180 -> 08:59.160] yet you still have the optimism for your life
[08:59.160 -> 09:00.160] and for your children's lives
[09:00.160 -> 09:02.040] and for the future of all of us.
[09:02.040 -> 09:05.000] So can we talk about how we retain optimism,
[09:05.000 -> 09:06.000] even when it's difficult?
[09:06.000 -> 09:09.000] Because I kind of feel that you're the oracle on this,
[09:09.000 -> 09:12.000] and I know you're very modest, so you might hate me saying that,
[09:12.000 -> 09:14.000] but I kind of think if you could find optimism for your life,
[09:14.000 -> 09:17.000] we could all find optimism, because you've seen the very worst of humanity
[09:17.000 -> 09:20.000] and the very worst that this planet can serve up to us.
[09:20.000 -> 09:23.000] Absolutely, and what I would say there is, you know,
[09:23.000 -> 09:25.160] there probably isn't a
[09:25.160 -> 09:28.920] great deal of difference in the number of disasters and tragedies and conflicts
[09:28.920 -> 09:31.680] that we're seeing now than there have been for any of the generations before
[09:31.680 -> 09:36.480] us. We consume them very differently. So one of the things you notice for example
[09:36.480 -> 09:39.760] in in a disaster world is we don't often have the telly on, we do in the command
[09:39.760 -> 09:43.840] centers, we'll have the television on, but sometimes we will consume media very
[09:43.840 -> 09:48.000] differently. You'll find for example which I always find very lovely in the byddwn yn cael y telyfysiad arno, ond weithiau byddwn yn defnyddio'r cymdeithasau'n wahanol. Byddwch chi'n cael, er enghraifft, a dwi'n cael yn dda iawn, yn y staff o'r ystafell morcherwyr
[09:48.000 -> 09:53.000] bydd ganddyn nhw chyfnodau, neu llyfrgellau, neu pethau i wneud rhywbeth wahanol.
[09:53.000 -> 09:58.000] Dydyn ni ddim, er enghraifft, yn gweithio ar y dyfyniad, ac yna yn ystod y gwrthdod ar gael ar gyfer nhw.
[09:58.000 -> 10:01.000] Felly, meddwl am y ffordd y byddwch chi'n defnyddio'r gwybodaethau gwahanol,
[10:01.000 -> 10:07.160] rwy'n credu, yw rhan pwysig iawn a ddysgud 22 mlynedd yn ôl, ac rydw i'n hoffi ei rhoi. that you're consuming bad news, I think, is a really important part that I was taught 22 years ago, and I'd love to pass that on.
[10:07.160 -> 10:12.040] I think the other thing is, there's a real sense that when you see, as you say, the kind
[10:12.040 -> 10:16.920] of worst of times, you realize how fragile life is and how fragile we are.
[10:16.920 -> 10:21.160] And one of the things with my work is it does bring me into contact with the deceased.
[10:21.160 -> 10:48.940] And you don't die in a disaster without it being sudden and unexpected and traumatic. ym mhob cyfnod o ddysgwyr, ac nid ydych chi'n mynd i'r ddysgwr heb ei fod yn sydyn a'n anhygoel a'n traumaig. Felly un o'r pethau yno yw gwneud ystyried, nid yn y ffordd hedonistig, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, yw, because I've seen an awful lot of that and I've seen an awful lot of pain that that causes in families you know each day that you have with with people is a
[10:48.940 -> 10:54.860] really precious one. So that was just a small snippet of what Lucy shared with
[10:54.860 -> 10:58.900] us I promise you the full episode is well worth listening to and just as a
[10:58.900 -> 11:02.780] reminder all the proceeds from this episode of the High Performance podcast
[11:02.780 -> 11:09.760] are going to be donated to the Red Cross so that they can continue their efforts to save as many lives as possible in Turkey
[11:09.760 -> 11:14.980] and Syria, working with the survivors as well as the victims of the recent earthquakes.
[11:14.980 -> 11:18.640] And just by listening to this podcast, you're helping to donate money to the appeal. But
[11:18.640 -> 11:22.200] if you would like to give even more, we would love that. All you need to do is click on
[11:22.200 -> 11:27.040] the link in the description to this podcast and you can donate directly to the Red Cross.
[11:27.600 -> 11:31.840] Once again, all our thoughts are with those who've been affected by the recent disaster.
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