'The exercise is different to the reality': How it feels to be at the centre of a disaster

As one of the world’s leading authorities on recovering from a disaster, Lucy Easthope has been present in the aftermath of some of the most catastrophic events of recent times. In her new book, she shows how even in the darkest days, there is light to be found in humanity

Lucy Easthope

The plant rooms of the run-down power station were thick with the noise of several hundred excited students. Some were studying ‘public service’ programmes at nearby colleges; others had travelled from all over the country from theatre make-up courses. Packed into minibuses before breakfast, they now sucked on Capri-Sun cartons and chewed gum. Half of them would soon collect their ‘character’ and pull on torn clothing and perfect their limps. Others would spend the day using putty and gloss to paint vivid red scars and open fractures, shards of bone sticking out, on their fellow scholars’ legs. Clangs of shutting metal doors cut across their shrieks of excitement at their fake injuries. This was Exercise Unified Response, March 2016, the most ambitious disaster exercise ever attempted in the UK.

Just like children in nursery school set up imaginary shops and pretend kitchens, we disaster specialists practise for disaster. In fact, playing pretend disasters is the way that we spend most of our time and might be the only action some see for years.