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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. VI - Page 10« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dr. Malcolm Perry Oliver)

Mr. Specter.
where I dropped it and asked one of the nurses to hand me my coat, and I left the room and went to the operating suite from there.
Mr. SPECTER. And did that conclude your participation in the treatment of President Kennedy?
Dr. PERRY. It did.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your best estimate as to the time you arrived in the Emergency Room ?
Dr. PERRY. I really don't know the time. It was about 12:30 or so when I was eating and the call must have come thereabouts, and I didn't look at my watch at that time, nor did I have an opportunity to look at it again until after I had left the room.
Mr. SPECTER What is your best estimate as to the time which elapsed from the point that you knew it was 12:30, until the time you arrived at the emergency room?
Dr. PERRY. It must have been within the next few minutes. I really don't know. As I say, we were sitting there eating and I had no occasion to look at my watch again. At that time I was much too busy to consult it further
Mr. Specter.
What is your best estimate as to the time you left the emergency room after finishing your treatment and work on the President?
Dr. PERRY. After I left trauma room No. 1, I went outside and washed my hands and then I retrieved my coat and I sat down for a few minutes in a chair there in the emergency room for probably 10 or 15 minutes, I suppose, and then I went from there to the operating suite to assist in the care of the Governor, so I must have left the emergency room probably somewhere around 1:15 or 1:20, I would gather.
Mr. SPECTER At approximately what time was the President pronounced to be dead ?
Dr. PERRY. I don't know this for a fact, other than what was related to me by Dr. Clark, and he tells me that this was at 1 o'clock. Once again, I did not verify the time.
Mr. SPECTER Have you described all of the efforts which were made to revive the President?
Dr. PERRY. There were other procedures done that I did not do during this period. I did not describe in detail the performance of the tracheotomy. It seems that that is really not necessary at this time, unless you want it.
Mr. SPECTER Will you describe it in detail, the procedures which were followed in the efforts to save the President's life?
Dr. PERRY. All right. Well, to regress, then, at the time I began the tracheotomy, I made an incision right through the wound which was present in the neck in order to gain complete control of any injury in the underlying trachea.
I made a transverse incision right through this wound and carried it down to the superficial fascia, to expose the strap muscles overlying the thyroid and the trachea. There was an injury to the right lateral aspect of the trachea at the level of the external wound. The trachea was deviated slightly to the left and it was necessary to divide the strap muscles on the left side in order to gain access to the trachea. At this point, I recall, Dr. Jones right on my left was placing a catheter into a vein in the-left arm because he handed me a necessary instrument which I needed in the performance of the procedure.
The wound in the trachea was then enlarged to admit a cuffed tracheotomy tube to support respiration. I noted that there was free air and blood in the superior right mediastinum.
Although I saw no injury to the lung or to the pleural space, the presence of this free blood and air in this area could be indicative of a wound of the right hemithorax, and I asked that someone put a right chest tube in for seal drainage. At the time I did not know who did this, but I have been informed that Dr. Baxter and Dr. Paul Peters inserted the chest tube and connected it to underwater drainage.
Blood transfusions and fluid transfusions were being given at this time, and through the previous venesections that had been done by Dr. Jones and Dr. Carrico.
Also, the President had received 300 mg. of Solucortef in order to support
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