Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

by Sheri Fink

“It is only when service fails that any thought is given to the provision of means for improving it,” Earl lamented.

Even still....

Concepts of triage and medical rationing are a barometer of how those in power in a society value human life.

But what does the “greatest good” mean when it comes to medicine? Is it the number of lives saved? Years of life saved? Best “quality” years of life saved? Or something else?

He had seen the young perish quickly and the old live unexpectedly. You could never figure out God’s plan. You just had to try to fit into it, like water taking the shape of its vessel.

If nothing else was learned, what he hoped people took from Memorial’s misfortune was simple: “Every time you can save a life, save it.”