
Five Days at Memorial
Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
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Narrated by:
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Kirsten Potter
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By:
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Sheri Fink
About this listen
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
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Editorial reviews
Editors Select, September 2013 - I’m more of a fiction reader and listener, but on the occasions when I turn to nonfiction it’s to better understand a compelling story. The best narrative nonfiction – like Unbroken and Devil in the White City – remains with you long after the last chapter has ended, and so is the case with my September pick, which reveals the chaotic details, devastating conditions, and overwhelming emotions that emerged during the five days that hundreds of patients, employees, family members, and pets spent stranded in New Orleans’ Memorial Hospital during Hurricane Katrina. It’s hard to listen to the events of those days – but almost as impossible to put the book down as author Sheri Fink, who previously won the Pulitzer Prize for her reporting, raises important questions about end-of-life care and how to be better prepared for major disasters. Frightening, fascinating, and highly recommended. Diana D., Audible Editor
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)
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Performance
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In a book as eye-opening as it is riveting, practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day in a hospital's cancer ward. In the span of 12 hours, lives can be lost, life-altering medical treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen.
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Attempting Infinity Over 12 Hours--
- By Gillian on 03-01-17
By: Theresa Brown RN
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The Great Deluge
- Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
- By: Douglas Brinkley
- Narrated by: Kyf Brewer
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
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In the span of five violent hours on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed major Gulf Coast cities and flattened 150 miles of coastline. Yet those wind-torn hours represented only the first stage of the relentless triple tragedy that Katrina brought to the entire Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama.
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Unabridged version
- By Leonora on 11-19-06
By: Douglas Brinkley
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The Good Nurse
- A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder
- By: Charles Graeber
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, husband, beloved father, best friend, and celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history.
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The Good Nurse gets it right
- By jc on 05-28-13
By: Charles Graeber
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Bellevue
- Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
- By: David Oshinsky
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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David Oshinsky, whose last book, Polio: An American Story, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, chronicles the history of America's oldest hospital and in so doing also charts the rise of New York to the nation's preeminent city, the path of American medicine from butchery and quackery to a professional and scientific endeavor, and the growth of a civic institution.
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Fascinating
- By Jean on 12-14-16
By: David Oshinsky
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The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth
- And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Morris
- Narrated by: Thomas Morris, Ruper Farley
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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A puzzling series of dental explosions beginning in the 19th century is just one of many strange tales that have long lain undiscovered in the pages of old medical journals. Award-winning medical historian Thomas Morris delivers one of the most remarkable, cringe-inducing collections of stories ever assembled.
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Boring Toilet Humor
- By Nemo on 01-30-20
By: Thomas Morris
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Katrina
- A History, 1915-2015
- By: Andy Horowitz
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans on August 29, 2005, but the decisions that caused the disaster extend across the 20th century. After the city weathered a major hurricane in 1915, its Sewerage and Water Board believed that developers could safely build housing away from the high ground near the Mississippi. And so New Orleans grew in lowlands that relied on significant government subsidies to stay dry.
By: Andy Horowitz
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Twelve Patients
- Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital
- By: Eric Manheimer
- Narrated by: Eric Manheimer
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In the spirit of Oliver Sacks Awakenings and the TV series House, Dr. Eric Manheimer's Twelve Patients is a memoir from the medical director of Bellevue Hospital that uses the plights of 12 very different patients - from dignitaries at the nearby UN, to supermax prisoners from Riker's Island, to illegal immigrants, and Wall Street tycoons - to illustrate larger societal issues.
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Awesome Book
- By NanaLyn on 08-06-12
By: Eric Manheimer
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Zeitoun
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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When HurricaneKatrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun - a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four - chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the eerie days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and rescuing those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.
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Something bold, ebullient, yet quiet
- By Darwin8u on 10-08-13
By: Dave Eggers
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Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
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I worked with cadavers for years, but....
- By POQA on 11-11-12
By: Mary Roach
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The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly
- A Physician's First Year
- By: Matt McCarthy
- Narrated by: Matt McCarthy
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In medical school, Matt McCarthy dreamed of being a different kind of doctor - the sort of mythical, unflappable physician who could reach unreachable patients. But when a new admission to the critical care unit almost died his first night on call, he found himself scrambling. Visions of mastery quickly gave way to hopes of simply surviving hospital life, where confidence was hard to come by and no amount of med school training could dispel the terror of facing actual patients.
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"my neurotic inner monologue"
- By Mom/RN on 06-08-15
By: Matt McCarthy
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On Call
- Emergency Room Stories: Volume 1
- By: David Berg MD
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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2 BONUS BOOKS INCLUDED WITH THE KINDLE AND AUDIOBOOK VERSION. ALMOST 500 PAGES OF EMERGENCY ROOM AND ICU MEDICAL STORIES! In the gripping first volume of On Call: Emergency Room Stories, Dr. David Berg takes readers once more to the high-stakes world of the ER. Through a series of compelling true stories, Dr. Berg captures the intensity, drama, and humanity that define emergency medicine. From life-saving interventions and miraculous recoveries to gut-wrenching losses and heartwarming moments, each chapter offers an unflinching look at the challenges faced by ER doctors, nurses, and staff. ...
By: David Berg MD
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Fire in Paradise
- By: Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. Fire in Paradise is a dramatic and moving narrative of the disaster based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts.
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A gripping view of an American tragedy
- By Kalutha on 06-30-20
By: Alastair Gee, and others
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Cook County ICU
- 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases
- By: Cory Franklin MD
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Author Cory Franklin, MD, who headed the hospital's intensive care unit from the 1970s through the 1990s, shares his most unique and bizarre experiences, including the deadly Chicago heatwave of 1995, treating the first AIDS patients in the country before the disease was diagnosed, the nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the only surviving ricin victim, and the professor with Alzheimer's hiding the effects of the wrong medication.
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Very impressive..
- By Andrey Borul on 04-19-16
By: Cory Franklin MD
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Better
- A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
- By: Atul Gawande
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The struggle to perform well is universal: each one of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. In this book, Atul Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable.
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A MUST read . . .
- By Kathy in CA on 08-11-14
By: Atul Gawande
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An American Sickness
- How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back
- By: Elisabeth Rosenthal
- Narrated by: Nancy Linari
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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It is well documented that our health-care system has grave problems, but how, in only a matter of decades, did things get this bad? Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal doesn't just explain the symptoms; she diagnoses and treats the disease itself. Rosenthal spells out in clear and practical terms exactly how to decode medical doublespeak, avoid the pitfalls of the pharmaceuticals racket, and get the care you and your family deserve. She takes you inside the doctor-patient relationship, explaining step by step the workings of a profession sorely lacking transparency.
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Not well balanced
- By Anonymous User on 02-12-18
What listeners say about Five Days at Memorial
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- Robin
- 09-16-13
Haunting
Any additional comments?
"Five Days at Memorial" is balanced, thought provoking and unexpectedly shocking. I still wonder "what would I have done" under the same horrific circumstances. Was the outcome just? Was truth and justice really served? Why wasn't the situation different? I'm still haunted.
It's an excellent piece of investigative journalism.
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11 people found this helpful
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- DaWoolf
- 10-09-13
So much detail!
Would you try another book from Sheri Fink and/or Kirsten Potter?
As a curious person, I often tackle books outside my experience base. However, I was interested in what happened at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina. 5 Days at Memorial (5-Days) is an excellent book for anyone associated with providing medical treatment. Sheri Fink completes a step-by-step analysis into each facet of the tragedy that occurred following Katrina. Fink is an exceptional writer and her ability deconstruct this tragic story is amazing. As a professional not involved in the medical world, I soon became burdened by the relentless detail described in 5-Days. There were so many patients, nurses, doctors, medicines, and government officials that I soon lost track of the story. 5-Days has a heavy and serious tone that is constantly present. Overall, this is an excellent book for lawyers, doctors, nurses, ethicists, and hospital professional. As a curious reader I lost focus about halfway in.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Twang
- 05-07-15
Not great but important to hear
Narration distracting from numerous mispronunciations of both common words, place names and terminology . Author likely biased but the underlying lessons of this event are necessary reading for all health professionals.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Elaine Candeloro
- 10-24-17
Pronunciation Problems
It would have been helpful for the narrator to take a trip down to New Orleans to learn how some of the words are pronounced locally. There nothing necessarily wrong, it’s just that it is distracting if you know how it should sound.
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1 person found this helpful
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- N8rdoc
- 03-29-14
Important, Thought provoking Book
Worth listening to for anyone in health care or disaster preparedness. Very thought provoking-What would you do when caring for seriously ill patients during severe circumstances with little to no outside support? Why were the outcomes at this hospital so different from other New Orleans hospitals during Hurricane Katrina. I did have some trouble keeping people's names straight - not sure if that is because I listened in smaller chunks, or due to the writing or narration.
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- Deborah Perkins
- 04-20-16
Intense story of medical & political ethics
Most everyone knows where they were when Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. We heard of many rescue successes and tragedies. Sheri Fink takes you through the hell that one particular hospital endured - and the after affects of medical decisions.
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- Amy B Corliss
- 05-09-16
A must read
This should be mandatory reading for anyone who works in a healthcare facility. It is simultaneously terrifying and thought-provoking. Even if you think you know the story, read this book. It will really make you examine how you think you might respond in a similar situation. As an audiobook, it was extremely well read, pleasant to listen to, and engaging. Made my drive go by so quickly. I would highly recommend this to anyone.
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- Denise
- 11-26-20
Excellent!
This is a fascinating look at what happened at one hospital during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Outstanding research, writing and compassion make this a truly amazing project. We have a lot to learn from this author’s insights.
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- Julie
- 07-09-17
Interesting, broad look at Katrina's devastation
Would you listen to Five Days at Memorial again? Why?
Interesting history about the city, it's engineering, it's political shortcomings and federal abandonment. More interesting was the moral decisions that the medical professionals were called to make amidst ever-changing information. Fascinating to hear how the patient's survival potential was coded for the purposes of evacuation - people became numbers. Doctors chose who lived, who evacuated, who was deserving of euthanasia, including the doctor's and nurses pets who sheltered at the same hospital! Learned a lot about medicines and life support, and how the close-to-dying are cared for in hospitals.
What did you like best about this story?
The euthanasia debate. Was it murder? Or euthanasia? Is a catastrophic event like Katrina equivalent to war-time rules of survival?
What three words best describe Kirsten Potter’s performance?
newscaster court reporter
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
The differences in each area hospital's experience. Some were hopeful and only 1-2 people died. Others were bleak and many many died.
Any additional comments?
Can't wait to find more stories about Katrina.
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- KK.
- 08-21-22
Conflicted
At times the story flowed. Other moments were questionable, as to why information was offered? What is the relationship, I often thought. The tangents were sometimes pertinent to the story, while other moments seemed to just consume time. The most distracting part, being from the region, are the endless mispronunciations. I had to rethink what was said, in order to realize, to whom or what she was referring. By the way, I am now reconsidering all DNR options!
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