Psychologist Cath Walker dumped her holiday plans, picked up the phone and asked what she could do to help as news broke of the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires in East Gippsland.
The Queensland Royal Flying Doctor Service staff member was at her Inverloch holiday home in Victoria when she reached out.
"I saw what was coming and thought about the different experiences I'd had in cyclones and fires and didn't know if it was out of place or not, but I thought I'll just ring and said could I help out, particularly with the aftermath," Ms Walker said.
It wasn't long before she was on a Royal Australian Air Force Hercules and in the thick of it.
"The devastation as you fly over… they're places I've been camping all my life," she said.
"It was breathtaking really in its horror."
She landed, headed straight to the community centre and worked out where to start.
But it wasn't the clinical work to which she was accustomed.
People needed on the ground support, face to face chats and help with other tasks including sourcing nappies.
"They don't come for psychological help at that first stage with a psych, they want someone that can sort them, they might be panicky still and need someone who's calm enough," he said.
Ms Walker stayed in Mallacoota for five weeks as signs of post traumatic stress disorder began to show within the community.
"The thing I say in disasters is you are not crazy, this is not normal, it's not your normal," she said.
"The real psychological treatment I would do professionally is weaving in and out …. And you start to pick people that are in trouble."
Ms Walker's work wasn't contained to a clinic or even community spaces.
"It's at the pub when you're having a meal together as emergency workers and one might be sitting more quietly and it's 'how's it been for you, have you got a bed'," Ms Walker said.
Ms Walker was presented with an Emergency Services Medal on Thursday in recognition of her dedication and willingness to put her hand up to help.
"It's just overwhelming," she said.
"Isn't it good a mental health worker has received it because when I started in nursing in 1981, mental health was the poor relative.
"It's a bit like this for everyone who works in mental health, it validates that if you don't get your mental health right your physical health goes out the window."
