Memorial’s Evacuation Plan

Five Days at Memorial

This thread traces the practical evacuation effort as improvised rescue develops into a difficult, changing process.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The First Transfers The First Transfers from "Five Days at Memorial". The First Transfers Moving the Most Vulnerable Once flooding threatened the hospital, staff began moving critically ill patients.

The First Transfers from "Five Days at Memorial". The First Transfers Moving the Most Vulnerable Once flooding threatened the hospital, staff began moving critically ill patients.

The First Transfers Moving the Most Vulnerable Once flooding threatened the hospital, staff began moving critically ill patients. A National Guard truck carried some patients away while other transfers depended on helicopters. Fragile Capacity The helipad was difficult to reach, elevators failed, and every trip consumed time. The early evacuations showed that the physical act of getting patients out could be as dangerous as waiting.

A Neonatal Airlift A Neonatal Airlift from "Five Days at Memorial". A Neonatal Airlift Incubators Upstairs Staff carried fragile babies through the hospital and up to the helipad after elevators became unusable.

A Neonatal Airlift from "Five Days at Memorial". A Neonatal Airlift Incubators Upstairs Staff carried fragile babies through the hospital and up to the helipad after elevators became unusable.

A Neonatal Airlift Incubators Upstairs Staff carried fragile babies through the hospital and up to the helipad after elevators became unusable. The process strained equipment, oxygen supplies, and the people doing the carrying. Improvised Flight When an incubator would not fit in a small aircraft, Juan Jorge Gershanik held a premature infant and ventilated him by hand. The rescue succeeded, but it exposed how much evacuation depended on improvisation.

The Airlift Pauses The Airlift Pauses from "Five Days at Memorial". The Airlift Pauses A Disputed Decision Coast Guard crews sought to continue carrying patients overnight.

The Airlift Pauses from "Five Days at Memorial". The Airlift Pauses A Disputed Decision Coast Guard crews sought to continue carrying patients overnight.

The Airlift Pauses A Disputed Decision Coast Guard crews sought to continue carrying patients overnight. Hospital leaders worried about darkness, fatigue, and the hazards of moving people through the building. Lost Opportunity Helicopters were turned away or redirected while vulnerable patients remained. The pause made the next day’s effort more urgent and left unresolved questions about who had authority to decide whether rescue should continue.

Boats to Dry Ground Boats to Dry Ground from "Five Days at Memorial". Boats to Dry Ground Volunteers Arrive Mark LeBlanc and Sandra LeBlanc brought airboats to Memorial after reaching the city.

Boats to Dry Ground from "Five Days at Memorial". Boats to Dry Ground Volunteers Arrive Mark LeBlanc and Sandra LeBlanc brought airboats to Memorial after reaching the city.

Boats to Dry Ground Volunteers Arrive Mark LeBlanc and Sandra LeBlanc brought airboats to Memorial after reaching the city. Their arrival offered a route out when road transport was no longer practical. Slow Shuttle Work The boats carried patients and other evacuees toward dry ground, but each round trip took time and the drop-off arrangements were uncertain. Rescue became a sequence of small departures rather than a single organized lift.

The Last Patient The Last Patient from "Five Days at Memorial". The Last Patient A Difficult Transfer Rodney Scott, a very large and medically fragile patient, was considered hard to move through the hospital’s narrow route…

The Last Patient from "Five Days at Memorial". The Last Patient A Difficult Transfer Rodney Scott, a very large and medically fragile patient, was considered hard to move through the hospital’s narrow route…

The Last Patient A Difficult Transfer Rodney Scott, a very large and medically fragile patient, was considered hard to move through the hospital’s narrow route to the roof. Volunteers carried him through the machine-room opening and up to the helipad. An Unexpected Ending Scott left alive in a helicopter, becoming the last living patient evacuated from Memorial. His escape challenged assumptions that patients considered difficult to move could not be rescued.

August 30, 2005

Night of August 30–31, 2005

September 1, 2005

September 1, 2005, evening