Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital in Daily Show / Colbert Report / Nightly Show / The Opposition

Dec 30, 2013 Andy rated it liked it

This is supposed to be about the ethical dilemma of "life and death" decision-making in a situation of scarce resources, but that narrative doesn't fit the facts presented. Only toward the end of the book do we get some context of what happened at other New Orleans hospitals like Charity, so that we can confirm that Memorial was a bizarre outlier, not an inevitable consequence of the Katrina emergency.

If, at the same time as the helicopters and boats are getting loaded up, you are injecting let ...more

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Jun 16, 2015 Carolyn rated it really liked it

We need good investigative reporting. As we listen to television pundits blather on and on about absolute heroes and villains, we forget sometime that human beings are nuanced and complicated. For instance, you’d think that doctors who euthanized sick patients without their knowledge or consent would be bad guys. Full stop. No gray area. But the truth is a little more difficult.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm. Doctors and nurses at Memorial Hospital hunker We need good investigative reporting. As we listen to television pundits blather on and on about absolute heroes and villains, we forget sometime that human beings are nuanced and complicated. For instance, you’d think that doctors who euthanized sick patients without their knowledge or consent would be bad guys. Full stop. No gray area. But the truth is a little more difficult.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm. Doctors and nurses at Memorial Hospital hunkered down inside, expecting the worst. But the storm passed, leaving them relatively unscathed. “Wow.” one remembers thinking, “We sure dodged a bullet.”

Then the levees broke and water poured into Memorial’s basement, where the generators were located. The power went out. Life support systems shut down. Water and food was running low. Temperatures were rising. There was no plan for this kind of disaster. Gunshots were heard outside, and there was a fear gangs would storm the hospital and steal the drugs.

Some of the staffers became convinced their sickest patients wouldn’t last the night. So a couple of doctors and nurses injected them with an overdose of morphine and other drugs, telling the sick they were going to “make them feel better.”

The first half of the story reads like an apocalyptic horror story. The second half, set about a year after Katrina, is more like a legal drama. One doctor and two nurses are charged with second-degree murder. The book follows them as they try to come to terms with what happened and the investigators trying to put them behind bars. It’s weird to call what happens next a spoiler considering it’s (unfortunately) nonfiction, but I still won’t say what happens next.

I found myself switching allegiances throughout the book. At some points I completely sided with the doctor and nurses. At other times I was against them. I made it about 400 pages before it occurred to me that I didn’t have to pick a side. The doctors were right and they were also wrong.

Fink takes a nuanced approach with everyone in the book. She doesn’t just focus on the determined, exhausted and frightened medical staff at Memorial. She takes time to introduce us to the patients who died, spelling out that these were vibrant and loved individuals who deserved better than what they got. ...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Danielle Dandreaux rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction

This book was a hard read. It is based on many interviews and research conducted by the author. The first part of the book describes the days leading up to Katrina at Memorial (Baptist) hospital in New Orleans and the five days following the storm. I found it extremely difficult to get through this part of the book. As a former resident, I recognized many of the landmarks and attitudes. It struck close to home. Additionally, it is hard to read about the choices and actions that occurred in the a ...more

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Jan 04, 2014 Jackie rated it liked it

I read the first 250 pages about the five horrific days at the hospital and was fascinated. I skimmed the next. 250 on the investigation of the patient deaths... An excellent book but I felt bogged down by some of the legal stuff. It is a tragic situation.

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Sep 10, 2013 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, ohio-e-book-project, e-book

Boy! This one needs some think time to digest. Thank heavens the only disasters I have been in were a tornado in 1965 (not as horrific as the ones hitting Oklahoma this past 2 years) and the blizzard of 1978.
Fink knows how to tell the story to the nth detail. I know what I feel after reading this, but I have never been in, nor do I expect to be involved in anything like the catastrophe of post-Katrina.

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