Mental scars destined to be hardest to heal in bushfire towns

The $76m mental health package for bushfire-affected areas will fund free counselling sessions.

NSW south coast doctor Jeffrey Lee at his burnt-out practice in Cobargo — he is now seeing patients in his caravan. Picture: John Feder

Jeffrey Lee has seen a steady stream of patients since the Badja Forest Road firestorm tore through the tiny town of Cobargo on the NSW south coast a fortnight ago.

But for the local GP, who has been treating injuries out of a fire-damaged caravan since his practice burned down on New Year’s Eve, says it is the mental wounds that will be the hardest to heal.

Speaking to The Australian on Sunday, soon after Scott Morrison announced a $76m mental health package to help bushfire-affected communities, Dr Lee said the tight-knit town was still reeling from the loss of two of its own.

Robert Salway, 63, and son, Patrick, 29, neighbours of Dr Lee, were killed after staying to defend their home in Wandella, about 10km northwest of the township.

“In a small community everyone knows everyone and they were very prominent people ­locally,” Dr Lee said, his voice trailing off. “I think that’s what has upset us more than anything.”

The Lees’ house was fortunately spared from the roaring inferno, but his on-site surgery and several sheds containing important records and medical equipment were lost in the blaze.

Power isn’t expected to be returned to the dairy farming country for weeks but thanks to the caravan’s solar panels and a small medical kit, Dr Lee has been able to deliver aid to dozens of patients — most of whom have sought counselling support — over the past fortnight.

Mental health services have been set up at the nearby Cobargo showgrounds, but Dr Lee said the fact he was a familiar face and has been personally affected by the fires meant people were more comfortable talking to him rather than “someone outside”. “A lot of our friends had to shelter in dams with a soaked woollen blanket over their heads,” he said.

“They could hear their animals being burnt, which especially with horses, isn’t good.”

Dr Lee said he had also treated people with minor burns as well as those with respiratory concerns.

“Some of the people who thought they had asthma were actually hyperventilating with all the stress,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s package will be used to fund free counselling sessions, as well as telehealth consultations and additional Headspace services for the young.

“These bushfires have been unprecedented in their scale, coverage and duration,” Mr Morrison said on Sunday. “They have caused tragic loss of life and physical damage, that have scarred our landscape.

“But as I have witnessed in ­connecting with people on the ground in fire-affected communities, they have also taken a traumatic emotional toll on our people.

“We need to ensure the trauma and mental health needs of our people are supported in a way like we never have before.”

Dr Lee said any assistance would help. “There’s a lot of very stressed people but we are used to relying on each other so are trying hard to help each other,” he said.

More than $10m will be poured into immediate distress and trauma support by making 10 free counselling sessions immediately available for individuals affected by the bushfires.

A further $3.2m investment will help deploy bushfire mental health response co-ordinators to fire-affected areas.