Eurobodalla organisers celebrate success of pilot 'Playdates with Emergency Services'

For some, a police car's bright flashing blue and red lights or the distant echo of an ambulance's siren can reignite visions of the fires. Even howling winds and the distinct smell of burning eucalypts can transport people back to New Year's Eve, 2019, in an instant.

In the Eurobodalla, everyone has a unique story to tell about the fires.

And it's not just adults who have mentally relived and faced dark memories of the fires - children are showing signs of trauma too.

Louise Hatton is the coordinator of children's services at the Eurobodalla Shire Council. She is one of the driving forces of a new initiative called "Playdates with Emergency Services".

"It all came about because of the bushfires," Ms Hatton said.

At weekly OOSH (out-of-school hours) sessions, playgroups and family day care, it became obvious that some children were struggling in the aftermath.

"We saw that children were fairly traumatised and would not stop talking about what happened.

"We know some kids were kept inside the house while parents defended fires outside."

Ms Hatton said the six playdate events, between October 16 and November 13, gave children the opportunity to speak up about their bushfire experience.

At the Batemans Bay playdate, an eight-year-old boy from Catalina told emergency responders that he diligently kept his four-year-old sister happy and calm while his parents were outside defending their home.

About five hundred homes were destroyed in the Eurobodalla shire in the 2019-2020 fires. According to the council, 80 per cent of the shire's area was burned.

"The bushfire situation was difficult on everyone including parents and children.

"For children, that high level of stress plays out in their behaviours."

Mandatory fire drills and lockdowns were triggering for children at daycare and OOSH.

"They didn't like fire engines or sirens."

In July 2023, Batemans Bay business owner Kate Turtiainen, Surf Beach doctor Michelle Hamrosi and Western Sydney University associate professor Karleen Gribble released findings from their study, Babies and Young Children in the Black Summer Study (BiBS).

The trio heard from 40 emergency responders and 233 parents and caregivers of children aged 0 to 4 who were impacted by the Black Summer bushfires.

They found that the emergency response to very young children and their caregivers in Australia was inadequate and that very young children and their mothers are "bearing the brunt" of disasters.

The study concluded that emergency responders were not being enabled by planning, training and facilities to support families with young children.

Backed by the Australian Breastfeeding Association, Ms Turtiainen and Dr Hamrosi collaborated with Ms Hatton and Jacklyn Roque, the community engagement officer at Batemans Bay's SES unit, to brainstorm ways they could connect children, caregivers and emergency responders.

They wanted to rebuild positive bonds between children and emergency responders and alleviate the trauma and stress young children associate with firetrucks, sirens and flashing lights.

The BiBs team also wanted to share their findings with the community, provide evacuation kit lists to caregivers and offer learning modules for emergency workers.

Enter the pilot program "playdates".

The playdates were unlike any other community market or fair: firefighters gave kids the chance to hold a hose and jump in the truck, marine rescue volunteers invited people onboard their rescue vessel, SES members encouraged children to crush a can using road crash tools and the SES's mascot, Paddy the Platypus did plenty of photo-bombing.

Paramedics, police officers, RFS volunteers, Fire & Rescue workers and Marine Rescue volunteers all jumped at the chance to connect with communities at the six playdates.

Ms Roque from Batemans Bay SES said the playdates created a "magical" result.

"We've achieved what we wanted which is to have a connection with our Eurobodalla communities, especially families with small children.

"We still know that children are impacted, especially with lights and sirens. This is a fun way to reduce that stress."

She said the playdates also alleviate stress for first responders and offer the opportunity for them to meet up outside of an emergency.

"People are still triggered - that's why we're doing this."

Speaking at the final playdate at the Sandy Place Reserve in Long Beach, Ms Turtiainen from the BiBs project said giving children the space and freedom to rebuild a positive relationship with the sensory triggers of the fires was integral to their growth.

"We can see that children are struggling...around emergency responders, so we wanted to get them comfortable and feeling safe. They need to know who they can turn to in those times," she said.

Ms Hatton said the more hands-on, playful experiences children have, the more likely they can reduce stress and benefit from embedded learning.

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"This is a breath of fresh air - there was no funding allocated to this," Ms Hatton said.

"It's pretty great that all the emergency services' time and energy has gone into the playdates."

Batemans Bay mum Sarah Halliday went to playdates in Batemans Bay and Long Beach with her children Jackson and Cassidy to support her partner, firefighter Shane Halliday.

On New Year's Eve, 2019, Shane was fighting fires two hours south of home in Bemboka. Sarah decided to leave home with Jackson, who was just six months old at the time, and evacuate to the beach, alongside thousands of others.

"Shane wasn't around for three days," she said, "It was really hard because we couldn't get into contact with him".

"We evacuated because the fire was right near our house. That was hard, having a six-month-old on the beach."

Now a toddler, Jackson got matching temporary tattoos with his firefighter dad, hopped in the firetruck driver's seat and met some of his dad's firefighting colleagues.

"It's really important to support this, especially after the fires," she said.

"It's good for the kids to not be scared of emergency services and to learn about what they do."

Ms Turtiainen said there is appetite amongst the community for more events like the playdates and much more needs to be done to support mothers and young children when the next emergency hits.

"We have tonnes of ideas - it's about how much time we have and who we can get to pick up the work."

She said the BiBs team and the Australian Breastfeeding Association are working to create safe, relaxing spaces for young children in evacuation centres.

"Everyone holds their own trauma, but people are starting to talk and bring that to the surface. That's really important."

Read the Babies and Young Children in the Black Summer Study here.

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