Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

Is Dr. Anna Pou guilty of murder? Argue yes or no, using direct textual evidence.

If a patient signs a “Do Not Resuscitate” order, medical personnel will honor it. Should the patient also be permitted to ask a doctor to assist in the patient’s suicide? Explain why or why not.

In the Katrina emergency, Memorial hospital staff decide that the most critical patients should be evacuated last. Other hospitals take the opposite course. Which way is better? Argue your case, citing direct textual evidence.

Describe briefly how triage works. Use textual evidence to explain how Memorial’s triage differed from other hospitals during the emergency, highlighting why Memorial’s course may be considered unconventional or suspect.

What resources were available at Memorial hospital that staffers overlooked? How might these resources have improved conditions at the hospital?

Who is more important to rescue, a doctor or a critically ill patient? Defend your decision.

Tenet Healthcare insists that the National Guard is in charge of evacuations. What might Tenet have done to speed up the rescue?

You are a doctor in a hospital without enough resources for all patients. What criteria would you use in deciding how to dispense those resources? Would your course be publicly accepted? Cite textual evidence to support your answer.