---
product_id: 221587
title: "Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (ALA Notable Books for Adults)"
price: "₨646"
currency: SCR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.sc/products/221587-five-days-at-memorial-life-and-death-in-a-storm
store_origin: SC
region: Seychelles
---

# In-depth investigative narrative Ethical & legal dilemmas explored Real-life Hurricane Katrina disaster backdrop Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (ALA Notable Books for Adults)

**Price:** ₨646
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> ⚡ Uncover the storm of ethics and survival in a hospital’s darkest hours!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (ALA Notable Books for Adults)
- **How much does it cost?** ₨646 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sc](https://www.desertcart.sc/products/221587-five-days-at-memorial-life-and-death-in-a-storm)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Gripping True Story:** Experience the harrowing reality of a hospital under siege during Hurricane Katrina.
- • **Award-Winning Recognition:** An ALA Notable Book acclaimed for its meticulous research and compelling storytelling.
- • **Ethical Complexity Unveiled:** Dive deep into moral quandaries that challenge your views on life, death, and medical decisions.
- • **Thought-Provoking Legal Drama:** Follow the intense aftermath and legal battles faced by healthcare heroes and villains alike.
- • **Essential for Professionals & Readers:** A must-read for healthcare workers, ethicists, and anyone fascinated by disaster resilience and human nature.

## Overview

Five Days at Memorial is a critically acclaimed, ALA Notable Book that chronicles the true story of a New Orleans hospital’s struggle during Hurricane Katrina. Sheri Fink meticulously investigates the chaos, moral dilemmas, and legal consequences faced by medical staff, offering a gripping, ethically charged narrative that challenges readers to rethink life-and-death decisions in disaster scenarios.

## Description

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (ALA Notable Books for Adults) [Fink, Sheri] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (ALA Notable Books for Adults)

Review: A morally complex and divisive read - SPOILERS IN REVIEW - Simplistically, this is a story of how a hospital full of doctors, family and patients dealt with and sustained through Hurricane Katrina. However, the story that focuses mainly on Dr. Anna Pou is a moral conundrum that is as divisive a subject as I can imagine. Sherri Fink treads through public files, personal testimonies and witness accounts to bring us a wide look at what took place at a New Orleans hospital as chaos ensued and governmental and corporate response languished. This lack of emergency response seems to be caused by a deadly combination of negligence and incompetence by the staff of the hospital and everyone they seemed to reach out to. Consequently, important decisions had to be made under stress , exhaustion and unbearable heat: Who among us gets to leave/receive critical care first? The oldest? The sickest? The ones with the best chance to survive? The ones with best quality of life chance? Triage was set up and days passed by slowly as people's lives hung in the balance. Thus enters Dr. Anna Pou. Fink goes into incredible detail of her background and character and gives us a sympathetic/ hard working, no-nonsense type of doctor who delegates authority amongst the nurses and charges at Memorial. Ultimately, it seems according to the book, that Dr.Pou would make important decisions to euthanize certain patients in what seems like a badly-kept secret that morally divided the staff. This is the central focus of the book and how you feel about Dr. Pou's actions will polarize the reader and have you second-guessing your original feelings. I must say, immediately I felt that euthanasia was completely acceptable. I believe that if somebody is to the point where pain and suffering renders somebody to the point that they are alive in the most basic definition only, I feel it acceptable for them to want to end their life. And, I did indeed feel this way throughout the book about Dr. Pou until you realize that these particular patients never consented. And there in lies the rub: euthanasia should never be put in the hands of the doctor without consent of the patient or family. Furthermore, in the case of Mrs. Burgess and Emmett Everett, not only did they not wish to die, they very much wanted to live. The fact that they were killed on the same day the mass evacuation was taking place only makes it more the tragedy. The second half of the book focuses on gathering evidence , the politics of prosecuting staff that risked their lives and otherwise behaved heroically during a disaster that most , including myself, got to watch from a distance. It's riveting and I think Fink presents every possible ethical possibility on what happened and what COULD have happened. I feel like she was objective and fair and if anything, only really painted LA attorney general in a negative light. It's no doubt controversial and there seems to be two camps: those that think that Dr. Pou is an amazing doctor who appears to have killed (with help of other staff, mind you) patients, even if ending their suffering was paramount in her mind. The other half is those that take Fink's reporting as factual. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between , but to those who deride Fink as trying to make a buck by sensationalizing , you have to consider both sides. Dr. Pou obviously has a lot to lose, including her freedom, if these accounts are accurate. She would literally have gotten away with murder. I don't, however, think she meant to kill with malice but rather with compassion. What does make me lose respect for her , though, is her continuing to lie about small details to exaggerate the conditions of the hospital ( lack of water, food, helicopters not being able to fly at night). If there was more of a consensus, or even if there was a moral consensus taken before she made the injections, I'd sleep better. Unfortunately for the victims, it seems like their deaths were carried out clandestinely. Meanwhile, their was an equal conspiracy of disapprovers who did nothing but express outrage over the possible euthanasia amongst themselves while not lifting a finger to stop it. I could go on and on about this with points both for and against all parties involved and not come within a mile of satisfaction. It's an astounding read that will test your preconceived notions of right and wrong and I'm not quite sure I'm qualified to judge anybody during a situation as hellish as this.
Review: A must read for healthcare staff - I very rarely write reviews of books. My father bought 5 Days at Memorial, read it quickly, and gave it to me, wanting my opinion. I'm an RN, and I work at a hospital in which we have mostly long term patients, and approx 200 of them are ventilator dependent. WARNING: NUMEROUS SPOILERS AND DISCUSSION OF EVENTS DURING THE STORM!!!!! The author does an excellent job of putting the reader in the situation...and almost from the 1st page you can see the tragedy that is going to unfold. No flood disaster plan in place. Knowing the generators were going to fail. And complete communication breakdown between the incident commander, the CEO of Tenet, and the Lifecare staff. As I was reading, I certainly questioned myself as to what I would have done as each situation presented itself. The ethical questions were raised quickly by the author..It was apparent that all the patients were not movable and would not be being evac'd. Discussing the different methods of triage and which patients should be moved 1st. Keeping the patients who were listed as DNR behind. The alleged discussions of euthanasia between doctors. The book keeps on hitting you with the bad decisions made by those "in charge". It was heartbreaking and frustrating to read. However, it did, for myself, force me to consider, A.) what would I have done if I was in that or a similar situation, and B.) look at my beliefs on end-of-life care The second half of the book consists of the legal ramifications/charges brought against the staff members who allegedly gave lethal overdoses to patients at Memorial. Again, extremely well written, researched, and thought provoking. This book should be required reading for healthcare professionals in an Ethics seminar. For the general reader, it gives an idea of just a tiny slice of the chaos of what was going on in New Orleans directly after Katrina, and the complete breakdown of societal norms that occurred there. This one will stay with me forever.

## Features

- Used Book in Good Condition

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #331,699 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6 in Disaster Relief (Books) #78 in Murder & Mayhem True Accounts #3,609 in U.S. State & Local History |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 4,561 Reviews |

## Images

![Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (ALA Notable Books for Adults) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81tlilwv1PL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A morally complex and divisive read - SPOILERS IN REVIEW
*by N***R on January 27, 2014*

Simplistically, this is a story of how a hospital full of doctors, family and patients dealt with and sustained through Hurricane Katrina. However, the story that focuses mainly on Dr. Anna Pou is a moral conundrum that is as divisive a subject as I can imagine. Sherri Fink treads through public files, personal testimonies and witness accounts to bring us a wide look at what took place at a New Orleans hospital as chaos ensued and governmental and corporate response languished. This lack of emergency response seems to be caused by a deadly combination of negligence and incompetence by the staff of the hospital and everyone they seemed to reach out to. Consequently, important decisions had to be made under stress , exhaustion and unbearable heat: Who among us gets to leave/receive critical care first? The oldest? The sickest? The ones with the best chance to survive? The ones with best quality of life chance? Triage was set up and days passed by slowly as people's lives hung in the balance. Thus enters Dr. Anna Pou. Fink goes into incredible detail of her background and character and gives us a sympathetic/ hard working, no-nonsense type of doctor who delegates authority amongst the nurses and charges at Memorial. Ultimately, it seems according to the book, that Dr.Pou would make important decisions to euthanize certain patients in what seems like a badly-kept secret that morally divided the staff. This is the central focus of the book and how you feel about Dr. Pou's actions will polarize the reader and have you second-guessing your original feelings. I must say, immediately I felt that euthanasia was completely acceptable. I believe that if somebody is to the point where pain and suffering renders somebody to the point that they are alive in the most basic definition only, I feel it acceptable for them to want to end their life. And, I did indeed feel this way throughout the book about Dr. Pou until you realize that these particular patients never consented. And there in lies the rub: euthanasia should never be put in the hands of the doctor without consent of the patient or family. Furthermore, in the case of Mrs. Burgess and Emmett Everett, not only did they not wish to die, they very much wanted to live. The fact that they were killed on the same day the mass evacuation was taking place only makes it more the tragedy. The second half of the book focuses on gathering evidence , the politics of prosecuting staff that risked their lives and otherwise behaved heroically during a disaster that most , including myself, got to watch from a distance. It's riveting and I think Fink presents every possible ethical possibility on what happened and what COULD have happened. I feel like she was objective and fair and if anything, only really painted LA attorney general in a negative light. It's no doubt controversial and there seems to be two camps: those that think that Dr. Pou is an amazing doctor who appears to have killed (with help of other staff, mind you) patients, even if ending their suffering was paramount in her mind. The other half is those that take Fink's reporting as factual. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between , but to those who deride Fink as trying to make a buck by sensationalizing , you have to consider both sides. Dr. Pou obviously has a lot to lose, including her freedom, if these accounts are accurate. She would literally have gotten away with murder. I don't, however, think she meant to kill with malice but rather with compassion. What does make me lose respect for her , though, is her continuing to lie about small details to exaggerate the conditions of the hospital ( lack of water, food, helicopters not being able to fly at night). If there was more of a consensus, or even if there was a moral consensus taken before she made the injections, I'd sleep better. Unfortunately for the victims, it seems like their deaths were carried out clandestinely. Meanwhile, their was an equal conspiracy of disapprovers who did nothing but express outrage over the possible euthanasia amongst themselves while not lifting a finger to stop it. I could go on and on about this with points both for and against all parties involved and not come within a mile of satisfaction. It's an astounding read that will test your preconceived notions of right and wrong and I'm not quite sure I'm qualified to judge anybody during a situation as hellish as this.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must read for healthcare staff
*by J***E on October 12, 2013*

I very rarely write reviews of books. My father bought 5 Days at Memorial, read it quickly, and gave it to me, wanting my opinion. I'm an RN, and I work at a hospital in which we have mostly long term patients, and approx 200 of them are ventilator dependent. WARNING: NUMEROUS SPOILERS AND DISCUSSION OF EVENTS DURING THE STORM!!!!! The author does an excellent job of putting the reader in the situation...and almost from the 1st page you can see the tragedy that is going to unfold. No flood disaster plan in place. Knowing the generators were going to fail. And complete communication breakdown between the incident commander, the CEO of Tenet, and the Lifecare staff. As I was reading, I certainly questioned myself as to what I would have done as each situation presented itself. The ethical questions were raised quickly by the author..It was apparent that all the patients were not movable and would not be being evac'd. Discussing the different methods of triage and which patients should be moved 1st. Keeping the patients who were listed as DNR behind. The alleged discussions of euthanasia between doctors. The book keeps on hitting you with the bad decisions made by those "in charge". It was heartbreaking and frustrating to read. However, it did, for myself, force me to consider, A.) what would I have done if I was in that or a similar situation, and B.) look at my beliefs on end-of-life care The second half of the book consists of the legal ramifications/charges brought against the staff members who allegedly gave lethal overdoses to patients at Memorial. Again, extremely well written, researched, and thought provoking. This book should be required reading for healthcare professionals in an Ethics seminar. For the general reader, it gives an idea of just a tiny slice of the chaos of what was going on in New Orleans directly after Katrina, and the complete breakdown of societal norms that occurred there. This one will stay with me forever.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ a superb thought provoking look at the potential for disaster in all our hospitals.
*by B***S on October 22, 2013*

I had not followed Dr Pou's case when it was occurring, but I was aware that there was a female MD being investigated for practicing euthanasia during Katrina. When this was published, I wanted to learn the story. I have read two other books about medical care during Katrina- the first was CodeBlue, the second a collection of nurse's stories about working during the storm and its aftermath. Both were interesting, but not challenging in the way Five Days at Memorial has been. First, let me say that Ms Fink writes very well. Her excellent prose made the story very clear. I was horrified to learn just how dreadful the conditions became at Memorial hospital. This despite reading the two previous books. Reading this, I could smell the fetid odors, feel the heat and humidity and actually imagine myself in the nurse's shoes. I could clearly understand the terrible dilemma the staff faced as DAYS passed in 100 degree heat with no electricity and the chaos of no plan for rescue of patients, staff and family members stuck in Memorial hospital. I have been an RN for 37 years, and thankfully have never experienced a disaster. What Fink's excellent book has done is shocked me into the awareness that a disaster could occur at my hospital. It would most likely be an earthquake here; all our disaster drills focus on an earthquake. I have never before considered what would we do for our patients after we got them out of a presumably badly damaged building? I work in a free standing psychiatric hospital; fortunately none of our patients are on life support. But all our medical records are computerized. The medicines are dispensed through a electronic computerized dispensing machine. We would not be able to even give anyone a Tylenol, let alone their regular meds. We are on a hill; water is pumped uphill to us, so we wouldn't have much water. I was just informed there's some drinking water stored for the patients but none for the staff. The upshot of my reading this superb book is I am going to ask our upper administration to read Five Days at Memorial. Then I plan to be nosey and find out what are the plans for care for our emotionally fragile patients after the shaking stops. I am feeling very passionate right now about making certain there is a plan for the care of our patients afterwards, and that there is an organized well worked out evacuation program prepared now, before we need it. Where will we go? How? How will we get meds? How will we tell families where their loved one is? What will we do with the few patients who are dangerous? I thank Ms Fink for opening this nurse's eyes to the potential for horrific things happening to my patients. Because of this book, I am getting involved to prepare as best I can for what I hope never happens. I HIGHLY recommend this book to hospital nurses and their administrators everywhere. It is also an invaluable eye opener for those who have loved ones with chronic illness, who could face the same fate as the poor souls in LifeCare or Memorial hospital. This book is a life changer. I will say I was surprised by the legal findings. But I understand how they came to be. I will do my very best to protect my patients from a similar fate, by preparation.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sc/products/221587-five-days-at-memorial-life-and-death-in-a-storm](https://www.desertcart.sc/products/221587-five-days-at-memorial-life-and-death-in-a-storm)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Seychelles*
*Store origin: SC*
*Last updated: 2026-02-18*