Wet Day Timetable

This was often a response we got when the girls came home from primary school on a rainy day. It meant they had to stay inside and out of the rain and water. In some respects, this is no different to the situation that has been unfolding in New South Wales, as authorities urge people […]

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Inside the curve

It looks like we are inside the curve here in Australia. We are still struggling to understand what its like inside the curve, even as the measures start to settle, and we fall into some sort of rhythm. How do we make sense of it? This is what I am trying to do. Yes, this […]

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The R Word

I’m Winston Wolf, and I solve problems, is my favourite line from Pulp Fiction. I’ve used it in presentations on recovery. Break down a disaster, and at the heart of it, they are problems to be solved. Its why we nurses make good disaster managers, we manage a range of people’s problems, all at once, […]

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The distance between us.

So, things are moving quickly now and have ramped up another notch, as there is a recognition that containment is no longer possible, and we seek to reduce the impacts on the health system. These measures include social distancing and serve to reduce the transmission of the virus. The early evidence suggests that it works, […]

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With the solvol, Geoffrey*

For the second time in under three months we are inundated by challenging images and uncertainty. The current COVID19 pandemic  is a new, and novel situation, and for us, like the bushfire crisis that we faced, there is great uncertainty, and the fear of the unknown. We just don’t know how it will unfold and […]

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Who gives a?

Like many, I have been watching #toiletpapergate unfold with incredulous eyes. Much has been written about the stupidity of people in buying up toilet paper, when COVID19 doesn’t cause diarrheoa. We are fortunate in the Richardson household, when we ordered toilet paper from Who Gives a Crap, we  ticked the box that meant we were […]

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This is what we are hearing

Silence. There was nothing to hear, I recall someone telling me, after the Black Saturday Bushfires. All those sounds we take for granted were gone. Insects. Birds. Animals, sounds of wind in leaves. Sounds of human movement. Nothing. I felt this as I was in Marysville in those early days. The soundscape had changed, and […]

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This is why we laugh

Disasters are serious events with serious consequences. Our newsfeeds, our conversations, our days are filled with images of despair, destruction, sadness and anger. As I’ve written previously, this can be overwhelming and paralysing. It’s hard to think about humour and laughter in these circumstances. There have been many times when I’ve shared a laugh in […]

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