The Role of Emergency Support Volunteers on Norfolk Island

Being part of an Emergency Support Volunteers (ESV) Team in a remote community like Norfolk Island calls on us to be flexible and adaptive as we don’t often have widespread community disasters, like the floods in Northern NSW or the bushfires in Victoria.

However, we still have an important role in supporting the community in many different ways, and most importantly, when that call comes, our team needs to be ready to swing into action at a moment’s notice. Best of all, if our community faces a major emergency, Red Cross can activate ESV’s from Australia to come here, at a moment’s notice, to supplement the local team.

Earlier this year, when Norfolk Island faced its first outbreak of COVID, our team was activated to assist NIHRACS with the daily welfare phone calls to people in isolation. This included checking that their symptoms were not getting worse, offering basic practical advice to help them manage isolation, as well as just generally providing a comforting ear to the outside world.

As ESV’s, we are trained by Red Cross to provide psychological first aid. This is not counselling, it’s a simple and practical approach to supporting people in times of duress to help them regain a sense of safety and certainty. PFA is about providing emotional comfort and support, and offering practical advice and assistance to address people’s immediate needs.

Our training, which continues after the initial one-day PFA Course, includes building our skills in active listening, reducing distress, identifying those people who need more specialised help such as medical or psychological, and linking people to other services that might be needed. The core aim of PFA is to minimise the effects of traumatic experiences and help people regain their confidence so they can get through distressing events without long-term psychological or emotional fallout.

Our team meets for a monthly skill drill which keeps us up to date with the work of Red Cross as well as practice our skills for different scenarios. For example, Red Cross provides us with a set of modules covering topics such as helping children and vulnerable people in emergencies, setting up and managing evacuation centres, helping people plan for and cope with household or community emergencies, understanding the long-term effects of trauma, and preparing communities for climate change events.

We also have a series of school-based programs such as “Pillowcase” and a collection of resources for teachers to educate students from pre-school to year 12 about important emergency preparedness and recovery information.

Norfolk Island’s Red Cross Emergency Support Volunteers Team is always keen for new people to join us so if you are looking for something incredibly worthwhile to do, to help our community, come along to the information session on Monday 16 May from 5.30 PM in the Conference Room at Governor’s Lodge.

This session outlines the steps to becoming a volunteer including the application process and training requirements, all of which are free. Members of the local team will be available to answer questions, and support our new recruits through the training steps.

For those who are ready to apply, please complete the online application at https://volunteering.redcross.org.au/cw/en/job/498406/emergency-services-team-member-norfolk-island

To find out more about your local Red Cross Emergency Support Team please call Kate Lemerle (Team Convenor) on 52112 or email bushtucka@iinet.net.au