Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Reaction by Secret Service Agents

Special Agent Clinton J. Hill, stationed on the left front running board of the followup car, heard a firecracker-like noise, saw the President lurch forward and to the left, and ran to the Presidential limousine. He heard a second shot approximately five seconds later that removed part of the President’s head, then pushed Mrs. Kennedy back into the car when she climbed onto the rear bumper, likely saving her life. Special Agent Emory P. Roberts recalled Agent Ready back to the followup car, and Special Agent George W. Hickey, Jr. cocked an automatic rifle as the cars sped to the hospital. Special Agent Rufus W. Youngblood vaulted into the rear seat of the Vice-Presidential car to shield Vice President Johnson with his body immediately after the first shot. Most agents had drawn their sidearms, and none entered the Texas School Book Depository Building, per Secret Service procedure of remaining with their protectees. Special Agent Forrest V. Sorrels was the first to return to the shooting scene approximately 20 to 25 minutes later.

PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL served as the destination for the mortally wounded President Kennedy, where emergency medical staff prepared trauma rooms and assembled a team of physicians for emergency treatment.

The Race to the Hospital

The Presidential motorcade raced approximately 4 miles to Parkland Memorial Hospital, led by Chief of Police Curry and police motorcyclists. Curry radioed ahead to have the hospital stand by, and the limousine arrived at the emergency entrance at about 12:35 p.m. at speeds estimated up to 70 or 80 miles per hour down the Stemmons Freeway and Harry Hines Boulevard. Twelve doctors, including surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, and specialists, rushed to the emergency area where trauma rooms 1 and 2 had been prepared. Governor Connally, who had regained consciousness upon arrival, was taken to trauma room 2, while President Kennedy, cradled by Mrs. Kennedy, was lifted onto a stretcher and pushed into trauma room 1.

Treatment of President Kennedy

Dr. Charles J. Carrico, a resident in general surgery, was the first physician to see the President, noting two wounds: a small bullet wound in the front lower neck and an extensive head wound with missing skull, shredded brain tissue, and slow oozing blood. Dr. Malcolm O. Perry arrived and performed a tracheotomy requiring 3 to 5 minutes, while Drs. Carrico and Ronald Jones performed cutdowns on the President’s right leg and left arm for fluid infusion, and Dr. Carrico administered hydrocortisone for adrenal insufficiency. Drs. Paul C. Peters and Charles R. Baxter inserted chest tubes to drain blood and air from the chest cavity. Doctors Bashour, Jenkins, and Giesecke joined resuscitation efforts, maintaining peripheral circulation and detecting some electrical cardiac activity. Dr. William Kemp Clark, who most closely observed the head wound, described a large, gaping wound in the right rear of the head with substantial brain tissue damage, noting that a small bullet hole discovered during autopsy could have been hidden in blood and hair.

CHAPITRE II.

CHAPTER II covers the immediate aftermath of the November 22, 1963 assassination of President Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, and the subsequent events leading through the swearing in of the new President, the return to Washington, and the autopsy at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland.

President Kennedy’s Death at Parkland Hospital

President Kennedy’s Death at Parkland Hospital Doctors at Parkland Hospital determined that efforts to revive the President were hopeless because of his severe head injury. Admiral Burkley, the President’s personal physician, did not intervene once he arrived so as not to disrupt the medical team. Father Oscar L. Huber administered last rites. Dr. Clark pronounced the President dead at approximately 1 p.m. because the head injury fell within his area of medical specialization, and the precise time of death could not be determined. The doctors observed that the President was still alive upon arrival at Parkland, with a heartbeat and respiratory efforts, but the head wound was fatal even though the neck injury alone would not have been. The President remained on his back throughout treatment because the medical team focused on controlling bleeding and establishing an airway; Dr. Carrico explained that a full inspection, including of the back, was not practical while treating an acutely injured patient, and no effort was made to examine the back even after death. The Parkland doctors took no further action once the President had expired, deeming it beyond the scope of their duties.