Code Gray tells the story of hell week in the life of New Orleans' Charity Hospital as the staff fights to survive Hurricane Katrina. The patients dealt with here are the poorest, least franchised members of the city and the doctors and nurses and staff that care for them provide that care out of a deep sense of social compact and responsibility to their medical oath. This compact along with their courage and skill are tested and reaffirmed and ultimately leads them, against all odds, to save the lives of over 350 patients.

At the heart of this story stands Dr. Bennett Deboisblanc, full professor of medicine at LSU and the doctor in charge of Charity's most critically ill patients.

Power gone, water rising, their back up generators broke down. Patients and emergency care equipment were carried to floors above. Without power intensive care unit monitors and ventilators failed. Patients were kept alive by hand. Just as frustration and fears reached an extreme they heard they were going to be evacuated. But help never came. They watched as helicopters passed them by and heard reports that they had already been evacuated. Charity Hospital had been forgotten. They now realized if they were going to make it they were going to have to get themselves out. When circumstances were at their worst, they were at there best.