Staff Book and Media Recommendations

Five Days At Memorial

Sheri Fink

A gripping real-life medical thriller that raises compelling social and ethical issues about end-of-life care, disaster preparedness, triage care, race, and what constitutes the “greatest good” in a time of crisis. 

“Memorial” is Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, and the first half of this book documents the five agonizingly slow days of its evacuation of nearly 2000 people, post-Hurricane Katrina.  Fink’s considerable skill makes the five days of the events we all        remember from TV reports become nail-bitingly real, and you are there as the storm shatters windows – the water from burst levees creeps up the street – the A/C and sewage systems are crippled – the backup     generators in the basement sputter and die – the battery backups on    essential ventilators fade.  By Day 5, doctors are faced with unimaginable decisions regarding the remaining, suffering, critically ill patients. ~ Naomi Schemm

Reviewed November 2014