Day Three
Episode 3 of “Five Days at Memorial” begins with Dr. King being interviewed following the incident in Memorial Hospital. He tells the interviewer that circumstances show who you really are, and the focal point here comes from Anna and whatever happened to her in the hospital. So what happened? Well, I’m sure we’ll find out! ..
It is Day three inside the hospital and Susan contemplates whether they should leave completely. With the water pumps in the city broken and the water rising, she’s concerned that this could go all the way up to the second floor. The only solution here is to get out.
The hospital is in a precarious situation because the helipad on the roof has not been used in years and there may not be a way to get these patients out through ambulances.
The thing is, Memorial and Lifecare are at odds over how to handle evacuating patients. Memorial wants to do it the traditional way, by calling an ambulance and having the patient transported to a hospital. Lifecare, on the other hand, doesn’t want to call an ambulance and have the patient transported to a hospital because they’re in a much more precarious situation when it comes to evacuating patients. Diane heads over and speaks to Susan, wanting to know exactly what’s going on. Given that they’re a private hospital, most of their patients are in critical condition and moving them isn’t a possibility.
Steve tells Michael that Memorial is going to need a lot of people to leave, and that he’s not sure if they can get everyone out in time. Michael decides to take the plunge and tell his boss that he’s going to have to leave too. Steve is taken aback, but agrees to let Michael go.
Michael feels that things could get really bad and sets to work trying to get medical services on hand for Memorial. Getting nowhere, he sends an email back deflecting it across to the National Guard. Still, that doesn’t stop Michael doing his best to try and get them help.
The city is in a state of decline and many people are struggling to make ends meet. The lack of services has made it difficult for people to live in New Orleans.
The Memorial Hospital patients are stuck on the old helipad because it’s too steep and wracked with tension from the climb up to it. The only solution is to move them up to the helipad, but it’s a steep and difficult climb.
The workers can see corrosion on the landing helicopter’s rotor blades, which could cause them to fail and send the helicopter crashing down. With evacuations getting underway though, the hospital needs to prioritize patients being taken out. The National Guard have promised to move 35 trucks so Susan believes those on life support should go first.
The helicopter company promises to move one person out, but that’s going to be the lot. Michael learns from his boss that using private helicopters and the state of Atlanta – who want to help – is out of the question. They believe the military and National Guard should stick to this.
While the military bring in a truck in, only 20 patients are actually brought in. Anna decides to stay at the hospital rather than leaving, while the neo-natal care unit all start shuffling up to the helipad.
Michael is already on his way, but he’s running into some trouble. He’s not sure where the helicopters are or how he’s going to get there in time.
As the clock ticks down on the evacuation plan, residents of the city are growing restless and frustrated. They don’t have an easy way out, and they know it. The situation rests on a knife edge, with just a few hours left before the evacuation is set to begin.
Susan tells Anna the bad news: The water is too high for the trucks to get through, and the fire department has had enough of waiting. They’re going to start rescuing people themselves. ..
The patient goes into cardiac arrest in the wake of all this drama, forcing Anna to rush through the hallways to try and bring them back. He’s been like this for 10 minutes and unfortunately, they lose him. With no power and the doctors stuck in a dark, it would seem that this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Can these guys hold out?
The Episode Review
The tension in this chapter is palpable and it’s great to see the characters come to terms with their situation. The corporate side of things is a nice touch too, given how long it took to actually get people out and evacuated.
This series has done a fantastic job so far with humanizing this awful disaster and those unaware of Hurricane Katrina and its devastating impact will be in for quite an eye-opening shock with this show, which is both absorbing and incredibly moving.
As the tension mounts in this episode, it becomes clear that the situation is worsening by the minute. The hospital seems to be in a state of emergency, with no one having any power inside to help them. This lack of power only makes things worse, as it means that there is little hope for anyone outside.
