Tweet

On the night of August 27, 2005, Dr. Demaree Inglese was one of many New Orleans residents convinced that approaching Hurricane Katrina would pass with minimal impact. The next few days’ events would prove how mistaken they all were, and Dr. Inglese, medical director of the New Orleans city jail, would have to lead his staff through a crisis of deadly proportions.

With compelling, shocking detail, No Ordinary Heroes recounts the drama that unfolded at the jail between August 26 and September 2, 2005. Faced with a prison compound that administrators had refused to evacuate, Dr. Inglese and his colleagues—deputies, nurses, and doctors—had a monumental disaster on their hands. Massive flooding transformed the sprawling jail complex into an island in the crippled city. Without power or running water, and with food stores dwindling, conditions at the jail deteriorated rapidly as temperatures inside soared in the blistering summer heat. Cut off from help, the medical staff struggled to care for thousands of inmates, staff, and neighborhood residents while deputies struggled to maintain order. Through it all loomed the constant menace of the prison inmates, many of them desperate to survive or possibly escape. Rioting prisoners, burning buildings, SWAT team rescues, and medical emergencies all conspired to create a storm within a storm: a trial weathered by the courage and perseverance of a dedicated few who worked to the breaking point and beyond.

Written with the taut suspense of a gripping thriller, No Ordinary Heroes vividly re-creates seven days that felt like an eternity to a handful of abandoned heroes—and is a stark, revealing testament to the power of humanitarian commitment in the most dire circumstances.

Demaree Inglese, M.D., earned his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, then completed a residency in internal medicine with the United States Air Force. Following his military service, Dr. Inglese relocated to New Orleans, where he practiced as an internist and hospitalist and was appointed as a clinical assistant professor at Tulane University School of Medicine. In 2000, he was chosen to be medical director for the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office, one of the largest jails in the country. Later, he was also appointed medical director for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, in Covington, Louisiana. He still lives in New Orleans.

Diana G. Gallagher has written several works of nonfiction and over fifty novels for all ages, young reader through adult. A Hugo Award-winning artist, retired musician, and full-time author, she lives in Florida. Read more about her at www.dianaggallagher.com.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina, reported to be the strongest hurricane in recorded history, made landfall on the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast. The storm and subsequent flooding demolished many coastal cities, including New Orleans. The Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office, the sixth largest jail in the country, was located in the heart of the city. The sprawling complex was devastated, trapping deputies, medical staff, and family members with nearly 7,000 dangerous inmates for five days. As the flood waters rose, supplies diminished, and rioting broke out. What began as a routine disaster response escalated into a struggle to survive, and the jail’s medical staff became prisoners of the storm. In the end, one thing was clear: these were no ordinary heroes.

"Take the tragedy of Katrina and New Orleans, then add being marooned in a large jail complex with deadly snakes, psychotics without medication, rioting prisoners, little food or medicine, and just the Hippocratic Oath to guide you. These are the suspenseful ingredients for a gut-wrenching, page-turning true story that only Dr. Demaree Inglese can tell --and he tells it brilliantly in No Ordinary Heroes." --Dennis M. Powers, author of The Raging Sea, Treasure Ship, and Sentinel of the Seas

"No Ordinary Heroes offers an inside look at one of the most horrific disasters of all time. It's a riveting story of perseverance and dedication to duty, of unsung professionals doing their level best to save lives in the midst of a nightmare of misery and violence. There's no putting this one down." -- John Gilstrap, author of Six Minutes to Freedom

"This riveting book is full of stories about true heroes, regular men and women who put their duty to others above their own personal safety. The Sheriff's department, deputies, medical personnel and staff struggled through the most extreme circumstances imaginable with incredible courage and bravery. As former Criminal Sheriff of Orleans Parish, I am truly proud to call all of these valiant heroes my friends." --Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, State of Louisiana

“For six days during the Katrina disaster, Dr. Dem Inglese takes readers into the eye of a different storm--his own and that of his staff as they struggle to contend with the dangers of disease, injury, flood, snipers and the explosive fury of thousands of rampaging prisoners. With breathtaking pace and vivid, cinematic detail, No Ordinary Heroes rewards us with many inspiring scenes of maxed-out people again and again going the extra yard, even the extra mile, to help save lives.” --Ron Arias, author of Five Against the Sea and Moving Target: A Memoir of Pursuit; co-author (with Dr. Mehmet Oz) of Healing From the Heart; co-author (with Paul D. White) of White’s Rules

"You will feel the heat from this gripping tale from ground zero at Katrina." --Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., author of YOU: The Owner’s Manual

“An eye-opening, provocative journey into human frailty and heroism. Dr. Inglese recounts the story with a dispassionate reserve that heightens our sense of shock. The reader will wonder how, faced with the same desperate circumstances, he or she might react under such hellish conditions.” --Kirkus Reviews

“Brings the human scale of the tragedy to life.” --Publishers Weekly

Dr. Dem Inglese signing at Book Expo America 2007 in New York City