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

第二章

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.