The Katrina Diaries: First Hand Accounts from Medics and Miracle Workers

There have been dozens of books written about Katrina, the hurricane that leveled long stretches of the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas and decimated the city of New Orleans in August 2005. The story has been told countless times by survivors, politicians and journalists who were there on the front lines, witnessing the devastation as it happened. Their stories express the unimaginable horror of seeing the bodies of dead men, women, children and animals floating in the putrid floodwaters. They tell of personal loss, grief and devastation. They shine a harsh light on poverty and politics. It has been five years since Katrina, and most of us have heard it all.



But this story is different.



We are the paramedics, EMTs, doctors, nurses, administrators, support staff and volunteers who were on the scene before, during and after Katrina. We were present from the pre-storm evacuations, during the storm, and throughout the surreal and unexpectedly tragic aftermath. The accounts you will read in these pages are told first-hand by healers...the people who treated the wounds of the traumatized and injured, held the sick and dying in their arms, and did their best to create a haven of safety in the midst of terror and chaos.