Code Blue: A Katrina Physician's Memoir

by Richard E. Deichmann

Book Overview

The book that finally gives a physician's inside story of the evacuation of Memorial Medical Center following Katrina a gripping tale of abandonment and survival. A toxic stew of floodwaters... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 160008026X
• ISBN13: 9781600080265
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Rooftop Publishing
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great Book about a Horrible Experience

I started reading this book and couldn't put it down. It pulls you in making you feel like you were there also. I'm just thankful to God I wasn't. I highly recommend this well written personal account of that day in history and the events that followed.

upallnight

Once I started reading I could not stop. I thought I might be getting myself into a book that, although I felt compelled to read it I was afraid I would cry throughout. Not so. This book told the real story and revealed how moronic the entire situation became, day by day, hour by hour. I could only chuckly at how rediculous the situation became. If I didn't know better by personal experience I would think it was a satirical comedy that someone made up after a bad dream. Sadly it was all true. I agree with one of the other reviews, this is a must read for anyone that could potentially face any type of disaster, expected, unexpected, natural or manmade. Thank you Dr.D for taking the time to chronical everything. Especially, considering that post-K there isn't much time for the luxury of such things. It is amazing your mind and memory could focus on this project. Thank you.

Good Creditable Read

This account by a professional is an easy to read, yet fascinating, portrait of the scene and happenings within the hospital during the Katrina episode. It is not overly dramatic or accusing, but a straightforward and creditable observation. I really appreciate the first-hand knowledge from a respected source. It was a while before we locals could deal with too much knowledge on too many happenings or were capable of facing and digesting how and what transpired. This is a study of dedication and courage of the staff at Memorial Hospital and is uplifting and healing because of those qualities that the staff displayed for all of us out here... It gives us hope and offers redemptive healing for the sins of the community because of their sacrifices and willingness to do the same in the future. I am grateful for that and this book.

Wonderful Detail of a Horrifying Story

As the son of a man who experienced much of the same bedlam in the hosptial Dr. Deichmann writes about, I can safely say that this book accurately describes the events that unfolded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. You will be hard pressed to find a more honest book about the storm, especially from a doctor's standpoint on trying to evacuate a hosital when the authorities have all but ignored your call for help. I spoke to my Dad twice while many of the events in this book were occuring before his very eyes. There's a sad truth about our city and our country that lies in the pages of these books. If you want a truthful, gritty story told through normal eyes, this book will fulfill that desire.

From and other excempt person during Katrina - a tourist,

Great Book!!!! I read the entire book in one long lunch setting as I was devouring the story along with my Cajun lunch. Have you always wondered what was going on inside the hospitals in NOLA during and after Katrina? Here is the book for you. Dr. Deichmann does an excellent job in describing the horrific conditions he, the patients and staff had to endure until they finally realized "they were on their own" for evacuations. Even the timing of the hurricane coorelated with an interesting time in the author's life as he was taking one daughter to college when they realized Hurricane Katrina was a threat to his beloved city. Dr. Deichmann did what not too many in charge on the local and state levels (as well as a hard core hospital bureaucrat well described in the book) he showed "initiative". My husband and I were on vacation when Delta canceled our flight and we could not get out before the hurricane. The tourists as well as people inside the hosptials in New Orleans were "excempt" from mandatory evacuation. The author shows just how terrible being in this special group could acutally be and how he, along with fellow staff members, did their best to care for patients in the ever growing unsafe city. A MUST read for every healthcare professional as you never know when you may be caught in something of this magnitude, and the types of skills needed to handle the issues at hand quickly aren't part of your clinical training. [...]