Conversations

Encore: What does a 'disaster specialist' actually do and how do they survive?

25 Jul 2025

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When there's a plane crash, a bomb blast, a flood or a pandemic, Lucy Easthope's phone starts ringing. This is how she stays cheerful and trusts her gut in the face of never-ending disasters. (R)When Lucy was 10 years old, she was at home with her dad watching a Liverpool Football Club match when all hell broke loose.The Hillsborough Disaster, as it came to be known, was a fatal crowd crush that killed almost 100 people and as Lucy and her dad watched it all unfold on the television, she remembers him shouting, "Someone needs to sort this!"That formative experience inspired Lucy to go on to become what's called an 'emergency planner' or 'disaster specialist'.When a plane crashes, a bomb explodes, a city floods or a virus spreads across the planet, Lucy's phone begins to ring and she springs into action.Lucy's speciality is the care and return of personal items to grieving families, through which she's learned that a cup of tea and truthfulness are as important as DNA testing.Further informationWhen the Dust Settles is published by Hodder & Stoughton.Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, executive producer was Carmel Rooney.It explores natural disasters, floods, famine, starvation, plane crashes, train crashes, mass death, tsunami, Bali, Japan, tube bombing, stadium crush, mass panic, disaster relief, survival, mental health, coping mechanisms, high cortisol, adrenaline, Grenfell, pandemic, terrorism, terror attack, Lismore, tornado, covid, ebola.

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Conversations

Encore: What does a 'disaster specialist' actually do and how do they survive?

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from Conversations

Encore: Colm Toibin on his early life and running away to Barcelona, Brooklyn and beyond

'Propeller vs forearm, croc vs leg': The incredible job of a remote bush doctor

A journey to help thousands of horses and revive an ancient tradition

Encore: David Malouf on growing up in Brisbane and his life of letters

Matt Bevan on the history you think you know

Encore: My year circumnavigating Australia on a surf ski

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