The play is adapted from Sheri Fink's nonfiction of the same name, telling the story of exhausted nurses in a New Orleans hospital who were forced to make heartbreaking decisions after the storm. After Hurricane Katrina swept New Orleans, the New Orleans Memorial Medical Center suffered flooding, power outages, and soaring temperatures. Medical staff were forced to make choices that troubled them for many years in this harsh environment. The hospital eventually had 40 deaths, some of whom were considered unable to survive, so euthanasia was arranged.