‘I can’t do this any more’: The words that shook veteran Red Cross caller

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This was published 2 years ago

‘I can’t do this any more’: The words that shook veteran Red Cross caller

By Jocelyn Garcia

“I can’t do this any more.”

They were the words on the other end of the line that struck Australian Red Cross worker Keryn Auld during a welfare phone check on a woman in hotel quarantine.

Keryn Auld is the Australian Red Cross’s longest-serving worker.

Keryn Auld is the Australian Red Cross’s longest-serving worker.Credit: Jocelyn Garcia

“There is a way you deal with it, and we’ve all been trained for those moments,” Ms Auld said.

She raised the call with her team leader at the COVID-19 call centre and Queensland Health.

“Three or four days later, I spoke to that client again and she was completely different. Everything was better,” she said. “It put my mind at ease that the situation had changed.”

Ms Auld said early intervention and regular welfare checks were important when calls didn’t “sit right”.

The Australian Red Cross COVID-19 call centre checks on the wellbeing of people in hotel quarantine.

The Australian Red Cross COVID-19 call centre checks on the wellbeing of people in hotel quarantine.

“I feel, is there more I could have done, you know? Maybe I missed something ... you just do the best you can,” said Ms Auld, who made 30 to 40 calls a day.

“We were given a list of clients to support, knowing that sometimes this is the only call they’re going to get and they’re in a small room with a bed, a toilet, shower, and food’s being delivered to the door,” she said.

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“That can be quite draining, especially for people with mental health issues.”

Ms Auld said she wanted to work for the Australian Red Cross since she was 16, when she saw volunteers with handcrafts at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Keryn Auld is marking her 40th year with the Australian Red Cross.

Keryn Auld is marking her 40th year with the Australian Red Cross.Credit: Jocelyn Garcia

“They made this beautiful [handcrafted] dog, and I still have it to this day,” she said.

Ms Auld went on to complete a traineeship before joining the team as a receptionist – the first face seen by homeless people or those escaping domestic violence.

Now marking her 40th year with Red Cross Australia, Ms Auld is its longest-serving employee.

During the destruction of Cyclone Yasi in 2011, she was deployed to Mackay, assisting families and residents at accommodation and recovery centres.

She has also volunteered at the Red Cross night cafe, where homeless people had a meal and a shower.

“There was one lovely gentleman there while I put food on his plate. We built this friendship about the football,” she said.

“During my time there, he used to meet with our support workers and ended up getting full accommodation and a full-time job.

“A few weeks ago I was on the train and I had my Red Cross shirt on and, lo and behold, this was the same gentleman and my goodness, he is doing really well.”

Ms Auld could not imagine doing anything else.

Red Cross workers can make up to 40 calls a day from the call centre.

Red Cross workers can make up to 40 calls a day from the call centre.

“In my 40 years at Red Cross, it’s about knowing we’re helping people and putting smiles on people’s faces,” she said.

After all the years she spent helping others in crisis, Ms Auld said the coronavirus pandemic brought mental health issues to the surface.

“There’s a lot of support around, but it’s a situation where some people are afraid to ask for help,” she said.

“There’s thinking along the lines of, ‘I’ve never had to ask but now it’s the situation where I have to ask’, and sometimes that can affect people mentally as well, knowing that that’s what it’s come to.”

A Queensland Health survey of more than 5000 people found just 14 per cent rated their mental wellbeing as high.

Forty-six per cent of respondents said that when confronted with a stressful or disruptive situation, they felt they had low mental resilience.

The biggest barrier for people to look after their mental health and wellbeing was finances.

The mental health director at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Dr Manaan Kar Ray, said normalising mental health was the first step in addressing the stigma.

“One in four people are living with a mental health challenge worldwide, but the eyes can’t see what the mind doesn’t know,” he said.

If you need support, contact beyondblue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.

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