Five Days at Memorial (2022) s01e02 Episode Script

1
Pictures of New Orleans show
the city battered and buffered today.
No question, Hurricane Katrina has
given New Orleans a terrible thrashing,
but that said
Katrina did jog slightly
east just before hitting land,
and that spared New Orleans.
This was not the apocalyptic
hurricane that so many had feared.
What was the mood after that first day?
The mood? Well, the mood was great.
Most of the hurricane, worst of
the hurricane missed the city,
and and we were alive.
You can't imagine what it was
like to have been in the hospital.
Middle of the night, windows
shattering, power goes out.
Then the next day,
generators had kicked in,
and the sky had cleared up.
Sun was out.
Everybody was
They were happy and
relieved and thankful.
Oh!
Maybe a little embarrassed.
- Embarrassed because?
- Well, a lot of people had overreacted.
Some of us had bought into the story
that Katrina was was gonna
be a once-in-a-century disaster,
and it wasn't.
The hurricane wasn't.
How was Dr. Pou the second day?
- Dr. Pou was fine.
- Hmm.
Did the two of you
have any conversations
about how people were, as
you said, overreacting
- I know what you're getting at.
- No. I'm just trying to understand.
If people were overreacting,
what conversations you
might have had with Dr. Pou
concerning what was
happening in the hospital?
Did you have conversations with Dr. Pou?
I will tell you this.
On that second day
when things had settled,
Dr. Pou could've left the hospital.
She stayed because she wanted to stay.
She wanted to be there for her patients.
As far as her mindset,
as far as our mindset,
after we survived the hurricane, we
thought that we could survive anything.
And we were wrong.
Lord, were we wrong.
There was flooding in the basement,
but the water's getting pumped out.
And, uh, we had some windows blown in,
but, uh, just be mindful of broken glass.
But other than that,
the building held up.
And y'all did amazing, every one of you.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Well done.
Uh, Susan? The water outside?
Uh, it's gone down
to around the 18-inch mark.
So, should start receding pretty quick.
Also, we're still having problems
with some of our landlines,
but that's an issue with utilities.
So, until the phone company
can start making repairs
What about the air-conditioning?
That's not us.
The AC runs off the city power
and the city power is out.
We're running off our
backup generators right now,
but should hold us till
the city power's back up.
I know it is hot, and
it's only gonna get hotter.
So make sure you're
drinking plenty of water.
Same with patients,
family, folks sheltering.
Keep everybody hydrated. Okay?
Yes.
All right. That's it.
Thank you again.
Thank you.
Oh, I know some of y'all
live right around here,
so if you leave to go check in at home,
just make sure that you let
admitting know where you're going.
Get your rounds done first, okay?
Jesus. Don't close the door.
Just for a minute.
Very nice pep talk.
Well, I meant it. They made
it through the hurricane.
They didn't lose a single
patient. They should be proud.
Now that it's over,
has anyone talked about lowering
the head count in the building?
People who are sheltering, patients
who don't need medical care?
Well, if city power is still out,
not everybody's gonna wanna leave.
They may not have anywhere to go.
Just because we didn't take a lot
of damage, doesn't mean there's
Until we get a better sense
of what's going on outside,
let's perhaps just keep the concept of,
uh, mandatory discharge
out of public use.
People are anxious as it is.
Okay.
Now can we open the door?
Much of the population of New Orleans
had been evacuated to higher
ground long before the storm hit.
That's because so much of the city,
the Big Easy, is so easily flooded.
It's so exposed.
Add to that monster winds,
and you've got the makings
for widespread damage.
What are you doing?
I heard a little, um, rumor.
An ex of mine, an anesthetist,
started working here.
Just my luck he sees me looking a mess.
Well, there was a hurricane. I'm
sure he's not looking real good.
I'm not concerned about how he looks.
I'm concerned about how I look.
And I will not look a mess.
Believe that? Putting on makeup
'cause you got an ex working here.
I don't know why she's bothering.
If it's the guy that I'm thinking of,
she does not pick men by their looks.
Yeah? I'd love to see what her
husband looks like.
After last night, I could use a laugh.
This is Carrie's cell. I'll
call you back as soon as I can.
Emmett. How you doing this morning?
Uh. I'm feeling all right.
Are you sure?
Yeah. Just, um, been
trying to call my wife.
Can't get hold of her.
Mmm. Yeah, well, things are
still settling down out there.
So until we know what's wha
You are gonna be taking us back to
the hospital over at Chalmette, right?
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Just as soon as we can.
I don't want my wife losing
me in all the confusion.
Emmett, I am not trying to
have your wife furious at me.
I'ma call Carrie personally and let
her know the minute we leave here.
Thank you.
You be good.
How you doing, man?
I had to leave out of my house, man.
I don't know whether that water's
coming over that levee or what?
I don't The last I heard, it's not.
Huh?
Last The storm missed us.
- I can't hear you.
- The storm went east.
So you haven't heard about
that water coming over
that levee from the lake?
No. I'll check it out.
'Cause the water started
rising so high at my two-story apartment,
I had to get out, man.
- Where's that at?
- Oh, right over…
Watch the floor.
Water's still coming in.
They sending anybody up here?
Is who sending anybody?
Memorial. Take care of
the water and all of that?
I don't know how y'all got
it worked back at Chalmette,
but over here, one
building, two hospitals.
LifeCare, we're just on our own.
Hell, nobody even came up from
Memorial to check on us last night.
That's dirty.
If you ever wanna transfer
up to Chalmette, let me know.
Keep me posted on
when you're transferring back.
Y'all been sweet to
us, and I appreciate it.
Next hurricane, I'm taking the day off.
Right?
What are we looking at?
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
…reports of looting.
One person in the Westbank called
and said, uh, people
were just running in
and taking what they
wanted, and ran out.
Anybody who's had a chance
to walk around and look at anything,
if y'all came downtown to
the CBD and had a look
Uh, I mean, this place
looks like Beirut.
It looks like Beirut that
was soaked with water.
So, a mil a military presence,
people walking around in
in, uh, in full combat gear,
with with, uh, loaded rifles,
is about the only thing that's out
of that's not in the picture.
And it's about to be in the picture.
Okay, here we go.
Ah.
How does that feel? Good? I'm
gonna give you some more, okay?
Here we go.
Yeah. Yeah.
Angela, y'all doing okay?
We're all right. They gonna do
something about the air-conditioning?
City power's out.
I know your mom's uncomfortable,
but, uh, she's a fighter.
Yeah. Oh.
Keep giving her water. And
you can use a compress if you have to.
I have been.
They should have the air on pretty soon.
Okay.
- Thanks, Diane.
- Yeah.
I just wanna make
sure everything's all right.
Everything's fine.
Somebody mentioned to me that
they saw you carrying a gun.
- I am carrying a gun.
- And it made them uncomfortable.
I have a license to carry a gun.
I have a right to carry a gun.
You have every right in the
world to protect yourself.
But this is still a working hospital.
And I would just ask you to be
mindful of the example you're setting.
Sure. Yeah.
Thank you, Ewing.
Uh. Uh, Doctor?
- Excuse me?
- Um Yes?
Are you all making us leave?
Making you what?
Somebody said you're gonna
start moving out patients.
Are you a patient?
My dad. He had to get his leg fixed
up, but our house took some damage.
I-I can't take him back there.
No one is gonna be discharged if
they don't have somewhere to go.
He's still in pain
No one is going to be
forcibly discharged.
Now, my name is Doctor Horace Baltz.
If you have any problems,
you ask to see me. All right?
- Thank you.
- All right.
Because the eye of Katrina veered east,
New Orleans avoided a direct
hit, but it was still hit hard.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen
Blanco went on television,
warning those who fled
the city to stay away.
It's about economies of
scale, just like anything else.
And Tenet Healthcare,
we're not just hospitals.
We're surgical centers, ambulatory
surgical centers, urgent care centers
- So you can provide a suite of options?
- Exactly.
We support local hospitals
with corporate development resources
that assist in revenue growth,
therefore market share
increase and physician relations
through the entire Gulf Coast Region.
Excuse me, sir. There. There you go.
So I got a question. I'm
kinda serious about it.
The Katrina stuff in Louisiana,
something like that good for business?
Y'all got hospitals around New Orleans,
but that kinda thing good for you?
- Oh, Jesus.
- No, but
But from a straight financial view?
And he's still on his first beer.
Look, after something like this,
you get more patient traffic, right?
There's more insurance
claims, more paperwork.
That's gotta cut into
your margins, right?
Uh, I'm not exactly sure
which department is in charge of
post-disaster, uh, P&L accounting.
I'm just in charge of Gulf
Coast Business Development. So…
I-I'm just asking.
Can't really say.
So we were talking about scale?
We were talking about scale.
And Tenet Healthcare,
it is the Gulf Region.
Hey. Be careful out there.
Saw some kids eyeing one of the
nurses when she was out with her dog.
- Seriously?
- Probably nothing, but watch yourself.
Y'all be careful if you go outside.
One of the nurses was
getting harassed by some kids.
- Harassed?
- It's what security told me.
Apparently, there was a nurse
who got attacked by a bunch
of kids while she was outside.
- Outside the hospital?
- Yeah.
- How many kids?
- I just know she got attacked.
What I was told is, she was out walking,
she got attacked, raped…
- What? Where did this happen?
- …by a bunch of kids.
Just outside the hospital.
- Who was assaulted?
- A nurse.
- But who?
- I don't have a name.
If a nurse was gang raped
outside the hospital,
we probably would have treated her.
- And I haven't heard anything about
- Everybody's talking about it.
Who is every
And if our people aren't
safe at our hospital,
then we've got some serious problems.
What are we gonna do about it?
- She was sexually assaulted?
- By apparently a few individuals.
Oh, we haven't heard anything about it.
That's not coming from you then?
Heard of some trouble
spots out in the parish,
but a nurse being assaulted
outside of the hospital? No.
- Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you.
- Okay.
As the water
continues to rise in New Orleans,
people are forced out of their
homes, out of their neighborhoods,
out of the solace of their families.
Hey, hey. Come on, come on.
I got this. I got this.
- Look at that.
- Jesus. Starting already.
No shit.
You know, I heard a couple
of nurses got gang raped.
I got great stuff.
- What you got?
- Don't worry. You got your own shit.
Hey. Where'd you get the stuff?
We We got it. Don't worry about it.
Where did you get it?
- Got it at the store.
- Store's not open.
Oh, we opened it.
Did your mother teach you to be a thief?
We ain't no thieves.
You stole it.
All we did,
got diapers for my little
sister, got some food for my moms.
City's wrecked, man.
Y'all fixing to put us out of here.
Who's putting you out?
I mean, that's the talk.
They putting people out.
You know. They're
gonna put us out first.
Now where my mom supposed to get this
stuff when y'all kick us to the curb?
All this is, is soul surviving.
Surviving for the soul.
Any damage to the structure, inside,
outside, just get photos, document it.
- Susan.
- Anything that
Just Just one second.
Anything to note needs
to go up to corporate.
Yeah, I'll get on it.
What can I do for you?
Something about these damn
rumors floating around.
I've heard. Just tell people, as
far as we know, nobody was raped.
Nobody was assaulted.
Wait. What?
As far as we know, we can't confirm
that a nurse was assaulted
outside the building.
That's not what I'm talking
about. I'm talking about rumors
that we're gonna start
dumping people on the streets.
We are not going to dump people.
But as soon as we can, we will
consider discharging patients.
Discharging them to where, Susan?
Where are people supposed to go?
We don't have city power. We
are running low on medicine.
So it is in everyone's best
interest to consider ways
- to ease the load of the hospital.
- Not everyone has somewhere to go.
And when you start talking
about putting people out,
a lot of folks in this community,
they'd take that how it sounds.
Like you're abandoning them.
Dr. King, I'm getting it from all sides.
You've only been at this
hospital for a few months,
so I understand that you are
still learning your way around,
but I am the one who has to
make the critical decisions.
If people don't have anywhere
to go, we will figure it out.
Otherwise, when the
water starts going down,
we have to begin discharging
discharging patients.
And will you pass around, if people
don't know what they're talking about,
would they please keep their mouth shut?
Hey, it's Vince.
Anna and I can't come to the
phone. Leave us a message.
It's me. Just trying again.
The air-conditioning
is still not working,
but otherwise we're, uh we're good.
Mmm. We're good.
So, when you get this
message, just call, okay?
Um, my cell service has been spotty,
so if I don't pick up,
just leave a message.
I'll call you back. Okay.
I'll talk to you when
you call. All right, bye.
Hey, it's Vince.
Anna and I can't come to the
phone. Leave us a message.
I love you, okay?
I miss you and I love you.
Freddy!
How's it going?
Still at 18 inches.
It hasn't moved at all?
No.
The city pump should be working.
All right. You keep an eye on it, yeah?
Yeah.
All right.
Everything's okay
here. Your mom's doing okay.
It's just the heat, that's all.
They tell you what's going on?
Well, all they're saying is
that the city's power is out,
so there's no air.
- There's no way to keep cool?
- Well, I can see if I can get a fan.
But there's water and, uh,
your mom ate some. And I'm here.
Did they say anything about when they'll
have the rest of the power back on?
- Not yet.
- Well, if they don't tell you anything,
you try to find somebody
and ask them, okay?
- Okay.
- And let us know.
- I will. She'll be fine.
- Yeah. Okay.
I'll call you as soon
as we get an update.
All right. You take care then.
- All right.
- All right. Bye.
Hey.
How bad is it?
The dock's wrecked.
There's a lot of downed trees, but
it could have been worse.
How's your mom?
Uh, Jill says the
hospital's on generators.
There's no air conditioner.
And they're not telling her anything.
But your mom's okay?
I guess. I just, uh…
What?
Your mom is all
right. She's got Jill with her.
And she's safer there
than she would be here.
This whole area is flooded back
here and it happened after the storm.
We sitting on the porch
- looking at the water rising up.
- How deep is it?
It's coming up on to 4
feet. Never had no flood that deep.
The cars is underwater
completely. Is the pumps on?
Pumps are on, but
that area that area is the, uh
- the Marconi pump.
- Mom, need something to drink?
- Did you hear there's flooding?
- Flooding?
There's water collecting.
Well, that's what they're
saying on the radio.
Oh, please, Mom.
- I want to hear what's going on.
- Nobody knows what's going on.
That's the problem.
Nobody knows what they're talking about.
The people who know
the least talk the most.
Mom, don't.
- Mom.
- No, it's it's all right.
It is not all right.
Oh.
Everybody's spreading rumors.
Afraid of things that aren't there.
2,000 people in this hospital
and I have to take care of all of 'em.
Every one of 'em.
You did take care of them.
You got 2,000 people through the storm.
If you want the truth, that's the truth.
You did that.
You did that.
- Yeah, I've got it.
- Careful.
I was so worried.
- You were?
- Yes. Of course.
How was it here? Huh?
That was Aaron Neville
here on WWVV, the sound of New Orleans.
Playing the best music through
the decades. And now Foreigner.
Uh-huh. Right? This is, like, our song.
- Our song?
- Yeah.
- This is the cheesiest song.
- Yeah.
But we heard it on our
first date, remember?
It was at that pig roast.
I was never at a pig roast.
- You You What?
- Mmm. No.
You could not take your
eyes off me at the pig roast.
- I was never at a pig roast.
- Wait, wait, wait.
You really don't remember it?
I mean, that that may
have been a first date.
I don't think it was our first date.
- Ah, yeah.
- Uh-uh.
Well, I'm pretty sure.
- No. I wasn't.
- Oh, no. Hang on. Wait.
Maybe it was that other beautiful,
cinnamon-haired future otolaryngologist
I had my eye on. It could be.
- Maybe it was
- Had your eye on?
Uh-huh.
Mmm. I should take a shower. I smell.
You smell fine.
You smell wonderful.
I miss you so much.
If I could run to you right
now, I would run to you.
But I can't. I can't be there right now.
But my love is there.
My love is always right there with you.
I love you too.
Karen?
Karen?
I'm here.
Code blue. ER.
Doctor's coming.
I'll go see if it's fixed.
Doctors are on their way, ma'am.
Ma'am can you hear me?
They're gonna help you with that now.
- Just try to stay calm.
- At least two liters.
Breathe. Breathe.
Okay.
What's your name? Can
you tell me your name?
It's Joleen.
- What's going on?
- She got stabbed.
- Were you there? How many times?
- Yeah. Just one.
Okay. Miss Joleen, your son
tells me you were stabbed
- Grandson.
- Is that right?
Is it just the one wound?
- Do you feel pain anywhere else?
- What do we have?
Female. Late 50s.
Penetrating chest wound.
- Labored respirations.
- No radials. BP's crashing.
- Let's get a cross and match in here.
- Is she all right?
- Do we know if the blood bank's open?
- I don't know.
- On it.
- All right. Hang fluids for now.
- Hey! What's going on here?
- Dr. Baltz, would you mind…
Yeah. Come with me, son.
- I'm staying with her.
- Go with the doctor.
Come. It's all right. It's all
right. They know what they're doing.
They're gonna take
very good care of her.
Now, you come with
me, all right? Come on.
Initiate oxygen.
We're gonna take care of you.
Okay. Right over there.
Now, are you all right?
Did anything happen to you?
Okay. What's your name?
Taylor.
Taylor?
I have to explain something to you.
That was a violent assault.
And the police are gonna have
to write up a report on that.
They have to.
Now, if you'd like, I
can help you. All right?
Okay.
What happened?
Are you trying to protect
the person who did this? Hmm?
Okay.
Well, what happened? You can tell me.
Come on.
There was the whole storm
and everything, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- The shit passed and
Gram, she was all happy,
'cause she thought
We all thought
it was gonna be hella bad.
- And But power's out.
- Mm-hmm.
Nothing to do, but make
something of it, right?
And so, Gran's having
people over, right?
And partying and shit.
And drinking and shit.
Drinking too much. A fight breaks out.
Next thing, they grab a kitchen knife.
- Who grabbed a kitchen knife?
- Things got hectic. They stabbed her.
Who stabbed her?
- My mom.
- Your mom?
Your mother?
Um, your mother stabbed her mother?
Hmm?
Are you gonna snitch?
Are you gonna send my mom to jail?
It's all right, son.
We'll work this out.
Doesn't make sense. It
just doesn't make any sense.
I heard you.
- Well, you didn't answer, so…
- What do you want me to say?
I can't leave.
The hospital is full
of doctors, you know.
Your boss said before the hurricane,
that you could've signed out
your patients and left town.
Okay, we are in the middle
of an emergency situation.
- Yeah, the storm's over.
- Every individual is needed.
We still have patients coming in. We
don't know what's going on in the city.
- Nothing is going on.
- I heard on the news
- people are rioting.
- The news is Come on.
The news is just
People are are trying
to clean up. And that's it.
So you can stay.
What am I gonna do here?
- What are you gonna do out there?
- Check on our house.
Okay, the house will be fine.
It will be fine, but somebody
still needs to be there.
All right, look.
I'm gonna I'm gonna
check on the house.
I'm gonna pick up some food.
I'm gonna come back. All right?
- Mm-hmm. Okay.
- We can have another campout.
We can listen to some more
bad '80s power ballads.
Sound good?
- Mmm. Yeah.
- All right.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, and, um, speaking of hearing things,
I heard that one of your
ex-boyfriends started working here.
News to me.
- I love you, Anna.
- I love you too.
I love you.
…metropolitan area in
general, in the huge majority of areas…
…it's not rising at all. It's the same.
In some parts of New Orleans,
because of the 17th Street breach,
it may be rising.
And that seemed to be the
case in parts of downtown.
But I don't want to alarm
everybody that, you know,
New Orleans is filling up like a
bowl. That's just not happening.
That was Louisiana
senator, David Vitter.
Good day to not be in Louisiana.
Every day is a good day
not to be in Louisiana.
Something like this good for business?
What?
I had a client ask if something
like this was good for business.
Seriously?
Yeah.
Course it's good for business.
It's a fucked-up thing to ask.
I know, right?
What are you seeing?
Tinting's been ripped
off most of the building.
Got a blown-out window there
- on the third floor.
- Got it. I got it.
A bunch on the fifth. HVAC damaged here.
Hey! Which one of you is in charge?
We've got some levees breached.
Get ready because we've got about
15 feet of water coming this way.
Yeah, right.
Hey. You hearing me?
Y'all got about 15 feet of water
coming. You don't have a lot of time.
Water is coming. A shitload of water.
How much is a shitload?
The storm surge from the hurricane
caused the 17th Street Canal levee
to collapse on the Orleans side.
Water's pouring into the
city from Lake Pontchartrain.
- Has been since yesterday.
- Yesterday?
Water's been pouring into
the city since yesterday?
Where are you getting
this information from?
Susan, I think we need
No. I have spent a day and a night
listening to rumors and half-truths.
And now this one shows up here. It's
- How does no one know levees collapsed?
- It is a goddamn mess out there.
No one is in charge. Nobody
knows what they're doing.
If you're waiting for an
official order, it's not coming.
- What do we do?
- Get your people outta here.
Activate your evac plan. Put it to work.
We don't have a plan for
evacuating during a flood.
Jesus Christ.
Well, we have people stationed here.
We'll do what we can, but you need
to get something going.
Jesus.
How much water until
we're in real trouble?
Four feet puts the
electrical switches under.
Then we lose what's left of our power.
- Food, supplies, the emergency room
- We need to call someone.
- We need to call
- Call someone?
- We need to get in touch with the city.
- Yeah, but did did you hear him?
Nobody in the city
knows what they're doing.
If we start trying to move patients
What if he's wrong? What
if there is no water?
Eric, go get some spotters outside. I
need to know when the water's coming.
- How fast, how high.
- All right.
I need a head count. How
many patients are left.
How many staff. Who's been
discharged. Who's left.
I need to know every soul
that's in this hospital.
Jesus. God help me.
Dr. Pou, where's your husband?
Vince left. He went
to check on our house.
You need to go get him. Look outside.
No, I mean, do you see that?
Look how fast it's coming in though.
They're saying that the levees have
breached in at some location, and…
Hey, it's Vince.
Anna and I can't come to the
phone. Leave us a message.
Vince, it's Anna. If
you're there, pick up.
Vince, are you there?
Vince? Vince, pick up the phone.
Vince.