Sheri fink9/18/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() It does do an excellent job of showing how rumors start and get out of control but provides no solution for controlling them – unlike the book which forays into comparing how other hospitals, during Katrina, dealt with the same issues as Memorial differently or made the same mistakes.Īs a teaching tool for disaster response issues, the book is remarkable. While the book does an excellent job of recognizing the issues that looking after pets in an emergency raise, the TV show pays only lip service to this, except for one brutally accurate scene in episode six.Īs of episode six, the show is of limited use as a teaching tool about disaster response and medical ethics although it is a show worth watching. Being in the veterinary profession, the plight of pets and the role they play in the movement of people during emergencies, is of particular interest. It also shows the importance of disaster preparedness and the dedication of medical professionals. While I’m painting a picture of the show as being an unreliable narrator that is not to say that it is not entertaining and emotionally engaging. It also wholesale moves one situation from a different hospital, Memorial was not the only hospital with major issues during Katrina, to Memorial for dramatic effect. The acrimonious relationship between the staff at Memorial and the staff of the Life Care Hospice hospital, that inhabited the same building, seems to be a fiction made for TV. It does set a similar tone, but like many “docudramas” it combines characters, invents new ones, and seems to invent situations to fit story arcs and running times. It paints a bleak picture of hospital ownership, which according to the book, are certainly due for criticism however, the lack of care and forethought shown is disingenuous. The TV show seems to be told from a particular point of view which in a story like this means taking a particular side. It is a challenging story that involves issues of disaster preparedness, corporate ownership of hospitals, death, euthanasia, quality of life, triage, race relations, rationing of care, and the potential criminal culpability of doctors for decisions made during emergency situations. “Five Days at Memorial” tells the story of what happened to the doctors and patients at Memorial Hospital during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans when they lost power, were flooded, were abandoned by authorities, and evacuation was difficult to impossible. I’ll try to keep this review free of major spoilers for the TV show, but it is difficult to discuss the issues of this true story without covering some of the events involved. Therefore, my criticism and praise of the show should be seen in this context. The TV show on Apple TV + “Five Days at Memorial” based on the book of the same name (which in turn is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning article) is about three quarters through as I finished the book and I write this. ![]()
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