Five Days at Memorial

Five Days at Memorial reconstructs the events at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The book follows doctors, nurses, patients, and families as they face critical decisions amid rising floodwaters, power outages, and deteriorating conditions. Fink conducted hundreds of interviews and analyzed documents to piece together what happened during those five days when thousands were trapped inside the hospital. The narrative tracks mounting pressures on medical staff as they struggled with limited resources, evacuation challenges, and ethical dilemmas in caring for their most vulnerable patients. The book explores the criminal investigation and legal proceedings that followed the hospital's evacuation, raising questions about medical ethics during disasters. It examines how individuals and institutions respond when standard protocols break down and normal rules no longer apply. Through this specific crisis, the book illuminates broader issues about healthcare rationing, disaster preparedness, and moral choices in extreme circumstances. The events at Memorial serve as a case study for examining how society allocates scarce medical resources when systems fail.

Readers describe this as a detailed, thorough investigation of the Memorial Medical Center crisis during Hurricane Katrina. Many note the book raises complex ethical questions about medical care during disasters. Readers appreciated: - In-depth research and extensive interviews - Balance between medical details and human stories - Clear explanation of hospital operations and decision-making - Examination of systemic failures at multiple levels Common criticisms: - First third moves slowly with excessive background details - Too many characters to track - Some found the legal proceedings section tedious - Structure can feel disorganized Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.03/5 (35,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (2,800+ ratings) LibraryThing: 4.1/5 (500+ ratings) "The amount of research is staggering," notes one Amazon reviewer. A Goodreads review counters: "Could have been 200 pages shorter without losing impact." Multiple readers mentioned finishing the book with more questions than answers about medical ethics in crisis situations.

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🏥 Author Sheri Fink won both a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award for this groundbreaking work of investigative journalism. ⚡ The hospital lost power within 24 hours of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, leaving staff to manually ventilate patients in sweltering 110-degree heat. 🔍 The investigation into events at Memorial led to the arrest and charging of a doctor and two nurses for allegedly euthanizing patients, though a grand jury declined to indict. 📚 The book grew from a 2009 New York Times Magazine article titled "The Deadly Choices at Memorial," which won Fink her first Pulitzer Prize. 🎓 The author brings unique insight to the story as both a journalist and trained physician, having received her M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.