Book Review-Five days at Memorial: Life and death in a storm-ravaged hospital (Fink, 2013) (Essay Sample)

Using Fink's book, “5 Days at Memorial”, as a reference, I am answering the following questions: 1. What do you think of the behavior and decisions made by the medical staff at Memorial? Were you shocked by the lethal injections of morphine? According to Dr. Ewing Cook, "It was actually to the point where you were considering that you could not just leave them; the humane thing would be to put ’em out.’’  Describe how this decision was made and by whom.  How did that decision get communicated to the staff?   Answer 1: (i). After reading the book, I think that medical staffs at Memorial made torturous decisions regarding some patients. Because medical staffs went through very tough and unavoidable situations (scorching heat, flood, less food and no expectation of evacuation because of hurricane Katrina), they prioritized the life of few patients by leaving behind other patients. (ii). Yes, after reading the book, I was very shocked by the decision of administering lethal injections of morphine. This was decided by a group of medical staff , instructed by Dr. Ewing Cook. Fink stated that this decision was taken because some patients were facing weakness, lack of treatment as well as lack of wholesome food (Dosa, 2010). (iii). According to Dr. Ewing Cook, "It was actually to the point where you were considering that you could not just leave them; the humane thing would be to put ’em out.’’ According to the book, this decision was made on the basis of conversation between Dr. Anna, a group of physicians and some nurses. According to the book, it can be stated that some nurse were directly involved in administration of lethal morphine, whereas other nurses had passive influence (Farazmand, 2007). 2. Communication.  What impact did the style and method of communication have on the outcomes at Memorial in managing this disaster?  What went wrong (give examples) and did anything go right?  Answer 2: According to the author, there was ineffective communication between all medical staffs at hospital. The style and method of communication had some below-mentioned impact: a. Communication between staffs was not clear and consistent, that created chaos among the staffs. There were some hoax messages regarding evacuation, that created uncertainty as well as chaos. b. There was lack of a guide at memorial hospital, to instruct everyone for taking a rational decision. That’s why staff members could not take decision wisely. c. There was lack of transparency between all medical staffs. That’s why, all staffs were not sure about euthanasia with some critically ill patients, that created chaos among them (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/books/five-days-at-memorial-by-sheri-fink.html). The things that went wrong is mentioned below: a. Lack of standard plan-making: No one made any alternative plan to avoid euthanasia. Because with proper planning, medical staffs could save the life of critically ill patients also by making a special team. b. Lack of transparency:- Decision regarding prioritizing some patients on the basis of their medical health, was not clearly discussed among every staff, that created a confusion among some staff at hospital (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/books/five-days-at-memorial-by-sheri-fink.html). The things that went right is mentioned below: a. Focus on patient care: - Despite of the lack of resources, some nurses and doctors prioritized the life of patients. They also worked relentlessly to treat patients. b. Teamwork: - Doctors and all medical staff worked relentless by forming a team. Despite of the unavoidable situations because of hurricane, the tried their best to treat every patient (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/books/five-days-at-memorial-by-sheri-fink.html). 3. In these emergency/disaster situations, what does the literature say about triage? Who should make those decisions and when? How should they be communicated to the staff? Use your textbook and/or another resource to answer this question. Answer 3: - (i). According to some literatures regarding disaster management, triage is a crucial process for systematizing care, during the situation where inadequate resources are available. The aim of triage is ensuring well-being of affected individuals. (ii). Triage should be carried out by medical professionals only, who have expertise in triage protocols. But in unavoidable situations, anyone with a medical degree, can perform triage (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/books/five-days-at-memorial-by-sheri-fink.html). (iii). Communication related to triage:- The following type of communication that should be carried out in triage are: a. There should be transparency in communication between all medical staffs. b. medical professionals should ensure patient’s well-being by using electronic machines and triage tags. 4. What lessons were learned from the hospital disaster at Memorial? Describe how it had an impact on disaster management/emergency planning in the country. Answer 4: The incident occurred at Memorial taught us so many important lessons, like, a. This taught us the importance of various emergency medical plans, that can save the patients lives during unavoidable situations. b. This taught us the importance of transparent communication among medical staffs regarding health and well-being of patients (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/17/five-days-memorial-sheri-fink-review). c. This taught us the importance of storing ample amount of resources, for unavoidable situations. d. This changed some rule and regulations regarding some emergency medical conditions and decisions (like euthanasia) to tackle them (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/17/five-days-memorial-sheri-fink-review). This incident had several ...