Five Days at Memorial

Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

By: Sheri Fink

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The award-winning book that inspired an Apple Original series from Apple TV+ • A landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina—and the suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice—from a Pulitzer Prize–winning physician and reporter

“An amazing tale, as inexorable as a Greek tragedy and as gripping as a whodunit.”—Dallas Morning News

After Hurricane Katrina struck and power failed, amid rising floodwaters and heat, exhausted staff at Memorial Medical Center designated certain patients last for rescue. Months later, a doctor and two nurses were arrested and accused of injecting some of those patients with life-ending drugs.

Five Days at Memorial, the culmination of six years of reporting by Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink, unspools the mystery, bringing us inside a hospital fighting for its life and into the most charged questions in health care: which patients should be prioritized, and can health care professionals ever be excused for hastening death?

Transforming our understanding of human nature in crisis, Five Days at Memorial exposes the hidden dilemmas of end-of-life care and reveals how ill-prepared we are for large-scale disasters—and how we can do better.

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, Entertainment Weekly, Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Star

WINNER: National Book Critics Circle Award, J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Ridenhour Book Prize, American Medical Writers Association Medical Book Award, National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award

©2013 Sheri Fink (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

2014, Carnegie Medal, Short-listed

2013, Los Angeles Times Book Prizes—Current Interest—Winner

2014, National Book Critics Circle Awards, Winner

2015, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, Winner

2014, Ron Ridenhour Book Award, Winner

“The journalist and doctor Sheri Fink published a meticulous investigation of these deaths in the New York Times Magazine and on the Web site of ProPublica, in 2009. Her work won a Pulitzer Prize. And now comes the book. In Five Days at Memorial, the contours of the story remain the same, yet Fink imbues them with far more narrative richness, making the doctors seem both more sympathetic and more culpable. Fink also expands on the ethical conundrums, which have festered over time and seem to gain fresh urgency.” (The New Yorker)

"“That so many people, starkly divided over the question of whether crimes had been committed, come off as decent and appealing makes this book an absorbing read. Dr. Fink brings a shimmering intelligence to its many narrative cul-de-sacs, which consider medical, legal and ethical issues. . . . By reporting the depth of those gruesome hours in Memorial before the helicopters came, and giving weight to medical ethics as grounded in the law, Sheri Fink has written an unforgettable story. Five Days at Memorial is social reporting of the first rank.” (Jason Berry, The New York Times)

Wow!

this really opened my eyes to the importance of emergency preparedness. thank you for sharing this story.

Interesting

Interesting, it really focused more on the lack of crisis preparedness and how that effected healthcare workers and those they care for.

What decisions would you make

Five Days is a gripping, terrifying, maddening, sad, and inspiring story, and a warning to all those of us who know face more serious and frequent natural disasters.
To me, there are no easy answers and I found myself seeing the situation from each side.

What we have not learned

I came across this book as a recommendation for students to read about ethical dilemmas. I am an instructor so I always check things out first. Listening to this book post-pandemic saddens me. We should have learned from Katrina how to better prepare. We should have leaned from H1N1 how to better prepare. But alas we have not. This book is shocking, horrifying, and a true testament to the humanity of healthcare workers. I was not there, I do not know what I would have done in the shoes of any of these people but I can say I truly understand them all. And think this should be required reading or listening for all in healthcare to help them truly learn what it means to make life and death decisions in the moment! And May we finally learn from these disasters and better prepare for the next!

Captivating

Well researched and written. The narrator was great! This tragedy was a perfect storm on all levels. I was moved by the heroism of so many but disturbed by the euthanasia of the most helpless.

Worth every minute

I thought this was excellent. I know it seems long to some based on some of the reviews, but I could’ve listened to even more of it. It is extremely thought-provoking. I see in some other reviews people complained about the narrator not knowing local pronunciations. That may be the case however, as someone who is not from the south, it did not impact me and I don’t think it takes away from the story that the narrator doesn’t sound “Cajun.” I rarely post reviews but I thought this was so good that it was worth it, especially in light of some of the reviews I read. I swear, some people just love to complain about anything. I thought the narrator sounded fantastic. However, I did listen to this book at 1.25 and found it easy to understand at that pace, and it moved it along faster.

Should be Required Reading

Unquestionably a book which should be read and discussed by those who are involved in emergency preparedness programs as well as the general public. Well researched, well documented description of conditions at an aging but vital hospital in New Orleans during Katrina as well as historical and subsequent developments and the players involved.

Strip away the fluff and it was simply murder!

Any additional comments?

Yes, the water was rising and yes, the electricity went out and yes, the backup generators finally failed as well and yes, the toilets overflowed. So do we just kill the patients who were within hours of being rescued? The hospital had food, water, and medications. This book isn't about difficult triage decisions which have to be made in a disaster situation e.g., who gets treated or medevaced out first, who gets the last vial of medicine,etc.The patients to whom Dr. Pou gave lethal injections weren't asking to die. She wasn't giving palliative medicine intended to alleviate pain or anxiety. She INTENDED to kill them without having consulted with them or their families. She has never explained why she did it. The story made me angry that she got away with it.

Really makes you think...

I started this book with rather strong feelings about end of life decisions, but I found myself changing my mind throughout the entire book. The book includes a lot of information about Katrina that I was unaware of, and overall I thought it was well researched. For me, however, a book with this many names, dates, and facts is usually better in print form, as I can look back and review earlier information.

Harrowing story, impossible decisions, ethics in modern life

I knew the situation was horrible, but to learn what these hospital workers had to endure was beyond eye opening. I have wanted to read this book since I heard the author interviewed on the radio some time ago. Was glad to see it as an audio book. Recommended for anyone with an interest in ethics... and anyone at all interested in the people of New Orleans. Still so shocking.