The series "Five Days at Memorial" is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Sherry Fink, "Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital." The plot is based on real events that occurred in 2005 when the most destructive hurricane in the country's history, Hurricane Katrina, struck the United States. Hundreds of thousands of residents lost their homes and belongings, and many ended up in hospitals with severe injuries. Doctors and nurses had to make numerous life-or-death decisions.