The five days that author Sheri Fink writes about in Five Days at Memorial were
five VERY long days. At first the book was interesting, but after a
while it really started to drag for me. I found myself looking to see
how many more pages I had to read. Honestly, I might not have finished
it if not for my commitment to read and honestly review it for Blogging
for Books. I will also say that I'm glad I received it for free in
exchange for that honest review.
Except for a few main
characters, it was very difficult to keep the various doctors, nurses,
and patients straight. There were so many of them, on top of relatives
of the staff, families of the patients, law enforcement, government
officials, helicopter pilots, lawyers and prosecutors, etc. etc. The names became a blur rather quickly.
I did appreciate the questions that the book raised: which patients should be prioritized (during a catastrophic
emergency) and can health professionals ever be excused for hastening
death? These questions may seem very black and white under ordinary
circumstances, but in the midst of a disaster such as a hurricane they
become much more gray. Faced with oppressive heat, loss of electricity,
the stench of overflowing toilets, the threat of looting and other
criminal misbehavior, lack of sleep, water and food shortages, fear and
even panic, what would you do? How would I act?
I found that I could see things from both sides. I could imagine how
overwhelming it must have been for the hospital staff who undertook the
care of so many critically ill patients in such dire conditions. I
could also empathize with the families who wanted answers as to how and
why their loved ones died. I think the author did a decent job of trying
to present circumstances from both groups.
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