Dr.
CARRICO Volume III
Monday,
March 30, 1964
TESTIMONY
OF DR. CHARLES JAMES CARRICO AND
DR.
MALCOLM OLIVER PERRY
The President's Commission met at 9:10 a.m. on March 30, 1964, at 200
Present were Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman; Representative Hale
Boggs, Representative Gerald R. Ford, John J. McCloy, and Allen W. Dulles,
members.
Also present were Arlen Specter, assistant counsel; Charles Murray,
observer; and Dean Robert G. Storey, special counsel to the attorney general of
Dr.
Charles James Carrico
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TESTIMONY
OF DR. CHARLES JAMES CARRICO
The CHAIRMAN. All right, Dr. Carrico, you know the reason why we are
here, what we are investigating.
If you will raise your right hand please, and be sworn, sir.
You solemnly swear the testimony you give before this Commission. shall
be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Dr. CARRICO. I do.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Specter will conduct the examination.
Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Carrico, will you state your full name for the record
please?
Dr. CARRICO. Charles James Carrico.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is your address, Dr. Carrico?
Dr. CARRICO. Home address?
Mr. SPECTER. Please.
Dr. CARRICO. It is 2605 Ridgwood in
Mr. SPECTER. What is your professional address?
Dr. CARRICO.
Mr. SPECTER. How old are you, sir?
Dr. CARRICO. 28.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you outline briefly your educational background?
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Dr. CARRICO. I attended grade school and high school in Denton, Tex.;
received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from North Texas State University in
1947; received my M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
in 1961; served an internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital from 1961 to 1962;
and then and a year of fellowship at the surgery department at Southwestern
Medical School, followed by my surgery residency at Parkland Hospital.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you duly licensed to practice medicine in the State of
Dr. CARRICO. Yes; I am.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you board certified at the present time or are you
working toward the board certification in surgery?
Dr. CARRICO. I am engaged in surgery residency which will qualify me for
board certification.
Mr. SPECTER. What experience have you had, if any, with gunshot wounds?
Dr. CARRICO. In the emergency room at
Mr. SPECTER. Could you approximate the number of
gunshot wounds you have treated in the course of those duties?
Dr. CARRICO. In all probably 150, 200, something in that range.
Mr. SPECTER. What were your duties at
Dr. CARRICO. At that time I was assigned to the elective surgery service,
which is the general surgery service treating the usual surgical cases. I was in
the emergency room evaluating some patient for admission.
Mr. SPECTER. What were you doing specifically in the neighborhood of
12:30 p.m. on that day?
Dr. CARRICO. At that time I had been called to the emergency room to
evaluate a patient for admission to the hospital.
Mr. SPECTER. Were you notified that an emergency case involving President
Kennedy was en route to the hospital?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your best estimate as to the time that you were
notified that President Kennedy was en route to the hospital?
Dr. CARRICO. Shortly after 12:30 is the best I can do.
Mr. SPECTER. How long thereafter was it that he actually did arrive at
Dr. CARRICO. Within 2 minutes approximately.
Mr. SPECTER. And precisely where were you at
Dr. CARRICO. When I first observed him I was in the emergency room,
seeing--actually Governor Connally had been brought in first, as you know, Dr.
Dulany and I had gone to care for Governor Connally and when the President was
brought in I left Governor Connally and went to care for the President.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe briefly the physical layout of
Dr. CARRICO. The emergency entrance is at the back of the building. There
is an ambulance ramp. Then immediately adjacent to the ambulance ramp are, of
course, double doors, swinging doors and a corridor which is approximately 30
feet long and empties directly into the emergency room.
Then inside the emergency room are several areas, the surgical area
consists of about eight booths for treating, examination and treatment of
patients, and four large emergency operating rooms.
Two of these are specifically set aside for acutely ill, severely ill,
patients and these are referred to as trauma rooms.
Mr. SPECTER. And were these trauma rooms used in connection with the
treatment of President Kennedy and Governor Connally?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. What precisely was the point where you met at his arrival?
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Dr. CARRICO. The President was being wheeled into trauma room one when I
saw him.
Mr. SPECTER. Who else, if anyone, was present at that time?
Dr. CARRICO. At that time, Dr. Don Curtis, Martin White.
The CHAIRMAN. Was he a doctor, too?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir; Miss Bowron.
Mr. SPECTER. Who is Miss Bowron?
Dr. CARRICO. She is one of the nurses on duty at the emergency room.
Mr. SPECTER. Who was the first doctor to actually see the President?
Dr. CARRICO. I was.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, what did you observe as to the condition of President
Kennedy when you first saw him?
Dr. CARRICO. He was on an ambulance cart, emergency cart, rather. His
color was blue white, ashen. He had slow agonal respiration, spasmodic
respirations without any coordination. He was making no voluntary movements. His
eyes were open, pupils were seen to be dilated and later were seen not to react
to light. This was the initial impression.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the status of his pulse at the time of arrival?
Dr. CARRICO. He had no palpable pulse.
Mr. SPECTER. And was he making any movements at the time of arrival?
Dr. CARRICO. No voluntary movements, only the spasmodic respirations.
Mr. SPECTER. Was any heartbeat noted at his arrival?
Dr. CARRICO. After these initial observations we opened his shirt, coat,
listened very briefly to his chest, heard a few sounds which we felt to be
heartbeats and then proceeded with the remainder of the examination.
Mr. SPECTER. In your opinion was President Kennedy alive or dead on his
arrival at
Dr. CARRICO. From a medical standpoint I suppose he was still alive in
that he did still have a heartbeat?
Mr. SPECTER. What action, if any, was taken with respect to the removal
of President Kennedy's clothing?
Dr. CARRICO. As I said after I had opened his shirt and coat, I proceeded
with the examination and the nurses removed his clothing as is the usual
procedure.
Mr. SPECTER. Was President Kennedy wearing a back brace?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes; he was.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you describe as precisely as you can that back brace?
Dr. CARRICO. As I recall, this was a white cotton or some sort of fiber
standard brace with stays and corset, in a corset-type arrangement and buckles.
Mr. SPECTER. How far up on his body did it come?
Dr. CARRICO. Just below his umbilicus, as I recall.
Mr. SPECTER. How far down on his body did it go?
Dr. CARRICO. I did not examine below his belt at that time.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you at any time examine below his belt?
Dr. CARRICO. I did not; no, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know if anyone else did?
Dr. CARRICO. Not in a formal manner.
Mr. SPECTER. What action did you take by way of treating President
Kennedy on his arrival?
Dr. CARRICO. After what we have described we
completed an initial emergency examination, which consisted of, as we have
already said, his color, his pulse, we felt his back, determined there were no
large wounds which would be an immediate threat to life there. Looked very
briefly at the head wound and then because of his inadequate respirations
inserted an endotracheal tube to attempt to support these respirations.
Mr. SPECTER. Specifically what did you do with respect to the back, Dr.
Carrico?
Dr. CARRICO. This is a routine examination of critically ill patients
where you haven't got time to examine him fully. I just placed my hands just
above the belt, but in this case just above the brace, and ran my hands up his
back.
Mr. SPECTER. To what point on his body?
Dr. CARRICO. All the way up to his neck very briefly.
Mr. SPECTER. What did you feel by that?
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Dr. CARRICO. I felt nothing other than the blood and debris. There was no
large wound there.
Mr. SPECTER. What source did you attribute the blood to at that time?
Dr. CARRICO. As it could have come from the head wound, and it certainly
could have been a back wound, but there was no way to tell whether this blood
would have come from a back wound and not from his head.
Mr. SPECTER. What action did you next take then?
Dr. CARRICO. At that time the endotracheal tube was inserted, using a
curved laryngoscopic blade, inserting an endotracheal tube, it was seen there
were some contusions, hematoma to the right of the larynx, with a minimal
deviation of the larynx to the left, and rugged tissue below indicating tracheal
injury.
The tube was inserted past this injury, and the cuff inflater was
connected to a Bennett machine which is a respiratory assistor using positive
pressure.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe briefly what you mean in lay terms by a
cuffed endotracheal tube?
Dr. CARRICO. This is a plastic tube which is inserted into the trachea,
into the windpipe, to allow an adequate airway, adequate breathing. The cuff is
a small latex cuff which should prevent leakage of air around the tube, thus
insuring an adequate airway.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you continue, then, to describe what efforts you made
to revive the President.
Dr. CARRICO. After the endotracheal tube was inserted and connected, I
listened briefly to his chest, respirations were better but still inadequate.
Dr. Perry arrived, and because of the inadequate respirations the
presence of a tracheal injury, advised that the chest tube was to be inserted,
this was done by some of the other physicians in the room.
At the same time we had been getting the airway inserted Dr. Curtis and
Dr. White were doing a cutdown, venous section using polyethylene catheters
through which fluid, medicine and blood could be administered.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe in lay language what you mean by a
cut-down in relationship to what they did in this case?
Dr. CARRICO. This was a small incision over his ankle and a tube was
inserted into one of his veins through which blood could be given, fluid.
Mr. SPECTER. Is the general purpose of that to maintain a circulatory
system?
Dr. CARRICO. Right.
Mr. SPECTER. In wounded parties?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes.
(At this point, Representative Ford entered the hearing room.)
Mr. SPECTER. Would you now proceed again to describe what else was done
for the President in an effort to save his life?
Dr. CARRICO. Sure. Dr. Perry then took over supervision and treatment,
and the chest tubes were inserted, another cutdown was done by Dr. Jones on the
President's arm.
Fluid, as I said, was given, blood was given, hydrocortisone was given.
Dr. Clark, the chief neurosurgeon, Dr. Bashour, cardiologist, was there or
arrived, and a cardiac monitor was attached and although I never saw any
electro-activity, Dr. Clark said there was some electrical activity of the heart
which means he was still trying to--
Mr. SPECTER. What is Dr. Clark's position in the hospital?
Dr. CARRICO. He is chief of the neurosurgery department and professor of
the neurosurgery.
Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Carrico, will you continue to tell us then what
treatment you rendered the President?
Dr. CARRICO. When this electrocardiac activity ceased, close cardiac
massage was begun. Using this, and fluids and airway we were able to maintain
fairly good color, apparently fairly good peripheral circulation as monitored by
carotid and radial pulses for a period of time. These efforts were abandoned
when it was determined by Dr. Clark that there was no continued cardiac
response. There was no cerebral response, that is the pupils remained dilated
and fixed; there was evidence of anoxia.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe in lay language what anoxia means?
Dr. CARRICO. No oxygen.
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Mr. SPECTER. Was cardiac massage applied in this situation?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir; it was, excellent cardiac massage.
Mr. SPECTER. Were bloods administered to the President?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.
(At this point, Mr. Dulles entered the hearing room.)
Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Carrico, was any action taken with respect to the
adrenalin insufficiency of President Kennedy?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir; he was given 300 milligrams of hydrocortisone
which is an adrenal hormone.
Mr. SPECTER. And what was the reason for the administration of that drug?
Dr. CARRICO. It was recalled that the President had been said to have
adrenal insufficiency.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, at what time was the death of the President pronounced,
Doctor?
Dr. CARRICO. At 1 o'clock.
Mr. SPECTER. Who pronounced the death of the President?
Dr. CARRICO. Dr. Clark, I believe.
Mr. SPECTER. Was that a precise time fixed or a general time fixed for
the point of death?
Dr. CARRICO. This was a general time, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. What, in your opinion, was the cause of death?
Dr. CARRICO. The head wound, the head injury.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe as specifically as
you can the head wound which you have already mentioned briefly?
Dr. CARRICO. Sure.
This was a 5- by 71-cm defect in the posterior skull, the occipital
region. There was an absence of the calvarium or skull in this area, with
shredded tissue, brain tissue present and initially considerable slow oozing.
Then after we established some circulation there was more profuse bleeding from
this wound.
Mr. SPECTER. Was any other wound observed on the head in addition to this
large opening where the skull was absent?
Dr. CARRICO. No other wound on the head.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have any opportunity specifically to look for a
small wound which was below the large opening of the skull on the right side of
the head?
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir; at least initially there was no time to examine the
patient completely for all small wounds. As we said before, this was an acutely
ill patient and all we had time to do was to determine what things were
life-threatening right then and attempt to resuscitate him and after which a
more complete examination would be carried out and we didn't have time to
examine for other wounds.
Mr. SPECTER. Was such a more complete examination ever carried out by the
doctors in
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir; not in my presence.
Mr. SPECTER. Why not?
Dr. CARRICO. As we said initially this was an acute emergency situation
and there was not time initially and when the cardiac massage was done this
prevented any further examination during this time this was being done. After
the President was pronounced dead his wife was there, he was the President, and
we felt certainly that complete examination would be carried out and no one had
the heart, I believe, to examine him then.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe, as specifically
as you can then, the neck wounds which you heretofore mentioned briefly?
Dr. CARRICO. There was a small wound, 5- to 8-mm. in size, located in the
lower third of the neck, below the thyroid cartilage, the
Mr. DULLES. Will you show us about where it was?
Dr. CARRICO. Just about where your tie would be.
Mr. DULLES. Where did it enter?
Dr. CARRICO. It entered?
Mr. DULLES. Yes.
Dr. CARRICO. At the time we did not know
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Mr. DULLES. I see.
Dr. CARRICO. The entrance. All we knew this was a small wound here.
Mr. DULLES. I see. And you put your hand right above where your tie is?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir; just where the tie--
Mr. DULLES. A little bit to the left.
Dr. CARRICO. To the right.
Mr. DULLES. Yes; to the right.
Dr. CARRICO. Yes. And this wound was fairly round, had no jagged edges,
no evidence of powder burns, and so forth.
Representative FORD. No evidence of powder burns?
Dr. CARRICO. So far as I know.
Representative FORD. In the front?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you now described that wound as specifically as based
upon your observations at the time?
Dr. CARRICO. I believe so.
Mr. SPECTER. And your recollection at the time of those observations?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, an even round wound.
Mr. DULLES. You felt this wound in the neck was not a fatal wound?
Dr. CARRICO. That is right.
Mr. SPECTER. That is, absent the head wound, would the President have
survived the wound which was present on his neck?
Dr. CARRICO. I think very likely he would have.
Mr. SPECTER. Based on your observations on the neck wound alone did have
a sufficient basis to form an opinion as to whether it was an entrance or an
exit wound?
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir; we did not. Not having completely evaluated all the
wounds, traced out the course of the bullets, this wound would have been
compatible with either entrance or exit wound depending upon the size, the
velocity, the tissue structure and so forth.
Mr. SPECTER. Permit me to add some facts which
I shall ask you to assume
as being true for purposes of having you express an opinion.
First of all, assume that the President was struck by a 6.5 mm.
copper-jacketed bullet from a rifle having a muzzle velocity of approximately
2,000 feet per second at a time when the President was approximately 160 to 250
feet from the weapon, with the President being struck from the rear at a
downward angle of approximately 45 degrees, being struck on the upper right
posterior thorax just above the upper border of the scapula 14 centimeters from
the tip of the right acromion process and 14 centimeters below the tip of the
right mastoid process.
Assume
further
that the missile passed through the body of the President striking no bones,
traversing the neck and sliding between the large muscles in, the posterior
aspect of the President's body through a fascia channel without violating the
pleural cavity, but bruising only the apex of the right pleural cavity and
bruising the most apical portion of the right lung, then causing a hematoma to
the right of the larynx which you have described, and creating a jagged wound in
the trachea, then exiting precisely at the point where you observe the puncture
wound to exist.
Now based on those facts
was the appearance of the wound in consistent with being an exit wound?
Dr. CARRICO. It certainly was. It could have been under the
circumstances,
Mr. SPECTER. And assuming that all the facts which I have given you to be
true, do you have an opinion with a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to
whether, in fact, the wound was an entrance wound or an exit wound?
Dr. CARRICO. With those facts and the fact as I understand it, no other
bullet was found this would be, this was, I believe, was an exit wound.
Mr. SPECTER. Were any bullets found in the President's body by the
doctors at
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Was the President's clothing ever examined by you, Dr.
Carrico?
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir; it was not.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the reason for no examination of the clothing?
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Dr. CARRICO. Again in the emergency situation the nurses removed the
clothing after we had initially unbuttoned enough to get a look at him, at his
chest, and as the routine is set up, the nurses remove the clothing and we just
don't take time to look at it.
Mr. SPECTER. Was the President's body then ever turned over at any point
by you or any of the other doctors at
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Was President Kennedy lying on the emergency stretcher from
the time he was brought into trauma room one until the treatment at
Dr. CARRICO. Yes; he was.
Mr. SPECTER. At what time was that treatment concluded, to the best of
your recollection?
Dr. CARRICO. At about 1 o'clock.
Mr. SPECTER. At approximately what time did you leave the trauma room
where the President was brought?
Dr. CARRICO. I left right at one when we decided that he was dead.
Mr. SPECTER. And did the other doctors leave at the same time or did any
remain in the trauma room?
Dr. CARRICO. I left before some of the other doctors, I do not remember
specifically who was there. I believe Dr. Baxter was, Dr. Jenkins was still
there, I believe. And I think Dr. Perry was.
Mr. SPECTER. You have described a number of doctors in the course of your
testimony up to this point. Would you state what other doctors were present
during the time the President was treated, to the best of your recollection?
Dr. CARRICO. Well, I have already mentioned Dr. Don Curtis, the surgery
resident; Martin White, an intern; Dr. Perry was there, Dr. Baxter, Dr.
McClelland, a member of the surgery staff; Dr. Ronald Jones, chief surgery
resident; Dr. Jenkins, chief of anesthesia; several other physicians whose names
I can't remember at the present. Admiral Burkley, I believe was his name, the
President's physician, was there as soon as he got to the hospital.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your view, Dr. Carrico, as
to how many bullets struck the President?
Dr. CARRICO. At the time of the initial examination I really had no view.
In view of what we have been told by you, and the Commission, two bullets would
be my opinion.
Mr. SPECTER. Based on the additional facts which I have asked you to assume
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. And also
based on the autopsy report from
Dr. CARRICO. Right.
Mr. SPECTER. Which was
made available to you by me.
Dr. CARRICO. Right.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, who, if any one, has talked to you representing the
Federal Government in connection with the treatment which you assisted in
rendering President Kennedy at Parkland on November 22?
Dr. CARRICO. We have talked to some representatives of the Secret
Service, whose names I do not remember.
Mr. SPECTER. On how many occasions, if there was more than one?
Dr. CARRICO. Two occasions, a fairly long interview shortly after the
President's death, and then approximately a month or so afterwards a very short
interview.
Representative FORD. When you say shortly after the President's death,
you mean that day?
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir. Within a week maybe.
Mr. SPECTER. And what was the substance of the first interview with the
Secret Service which you have described as occurring within 1 week?
Dr. CARRICO. This was a meeting in Dr. Shires
office, Dr. Shires, Dr. Perry, Dr. McClelland and myself, and two
representatives of the Secret Service in which we went over the treatment.
They discussed the autopsy findings as I recall it, with Dr. Shires, and
reviewed the treatment with him, essentially.
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Mr. SPECTER. And what questions were you asked specifically at that time,
if any?
Dr. CARRICO. I don't recall any specific questions I was asked. In
general, I was asked some questions pertaining to his treatment, to the wounds,
what I thought they were, and et cetera.
Mr. SPECTER. What opinions did you express at that time?
Dr. CARRICO. Again, I said that on the basis of
our initial examination, this wound in his neck
could have been either an entrance or exit wound, which was what they were most
concerned about, and assuming there was a wound
in the back, somewhere similar to what you have described that this certainly
would be compatible with an exit wound.
Mr. SPECTER. Were your statements at that time different in any respect
with the testimony which you have given here this morning?
Dr. CARRICO. Not that I recall.
Mr. SPECTER. Were your views at that time consistent with the findings in
the autopsy report, or did they vary in any way from the findings in that
report?
Dr. CARRICO. As I recall, the autopsy report is exactly as I remember.
Mr. SPECTER. Were your opinions at that time consistent with the findings
of the autopsy report?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you identify Dr. Shires for the record; please?
Dr. CARRICO. Dr. Shires is chief of the surgery service at Parkland, and
chairman of the Department of Surgery at
Mr. SPECTER. Now, approximately when, to the best of your recollection,
did the second interview occur with the Secret Service?
Dr. CARRICO. This was some time in February, probably about the middle of
February, and the interview consisted of the agent asking me if I had any
further information.
I said I did not.
Mr. SPECTER. Was that the total context of the interview?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Now, did I interview you and take your deposition in
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. And has that deposition transcript been made available to
you this morning?
Dr. CARRICO. It has.
Mr. SPECTER. And were the views you expressed to me in our conversation
before the deposition and on the record during the course of the deposition
different in any way with the testimony which you have provided here this
morning?
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir; they were not.
Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Carrico, have you changed your opinion in any way
concerning your observations or conclusions about the situation with respect to
President Kennedy at any time since November 22, 1963?
Dr. CARRICO. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have any notes or writings of any sort in your
possession concerning your participation in the treatment of President Kennedy?
Dr. CARRICO. None other than the letter to my children I mentioned to
you.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you state briefly the general nature of that for the
Commission here today, please.
Dr. CARRICO. This is just a letter written to my children to be read by
them later, saying what happened, how I felt about it. And maybe why it
happened, and maybe it would do them some good later.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you also make a written report which was made a part of
the records of
Dr. CARRICO. Yes; I did.
Mr. SPECTER. Do those constitute the total of the writings which you made
concerning your participation in the treatment of the President?
Dr. CARRICO. Right.
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Mr. DULLES. You spoke of a letter to your children. I don't want to
invade your privacy in this respect in any way, but is there anything in that
letter that you think would bear on our considerations here by this Commission?
Dr. CARRICO. No; I don't believe so. This thing doesn't mention the
treatment other than to say probably by the time they read the letter it will be
archaic.
Mr. DULLES. You spoke about the causes of it all, I don't know whether--
Dr. CARRICO. Just a little homespun philosophy. I
just said that there was a lot of extremism both in
Mr. DULLES. Thank you.
Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Carrico, was the nature of the treatment affected, in
your opinion, in any way by the fact that you were working on the President of
the
Dr. CARRICO. I don't believe so, sir. We have seen a large number of
acutely injured people, and acutely ill people, and the treatment has been
carried out enough that this is almost reflex, if you will. Certainly everyone
was emotionally affected. I think, if anything, the emotional aspect made us
think faster, work faster and better.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have anything to add which you think would be helpful
to the Commission in its inquiry on the assassination of President Kennedy?
Dr. CARRICO. No, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Those conclude my questions, Mr. Chief Justice.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Dulles, have you any questions to ask of the Doctor?
Mr. DULLES. Looking back on it, do you think it was probable that death
followed almost immediately after this shot in the head?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir; as I said--
Mr. DULLES. I was absent, I am sorry, at that time.
Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir. Medically, I suppose you would have to say he was
alive when he came to
The CHAIRMAN. Congressman Ford?
Representative FORD. When did you say that he arrived, when you first
started working on the President?
Dr. CARRICO. It would only be a guess. Probably about 12:35. It was about
12:30 when I got in the emergency room, and I was there 2 or 3 minutes when we
were called, and he was there within 2 or 3 minutes.
Representative FORD. So approximately from 12:35 until 1 the President
was examined and treatment was given by you and others?
Dr. CARRICO. Yes.
Representative FORD. Have you read and analyzed
the autopsy performed by the authorities at
Dr. CARRICO. I have not read it carefully. I have seen it. Mr. Specter
showed me parts of it, and I had seen a copy of it earlier, briefly.
Representative FORD. Is there anything in it that you have read that
would be in conflict with your observation?
Dr. CARRICO. Nothing at all in conflict. It certainly adds to the
observations that we made.
Representative FORD. Have you been interviewed by the press and, if so,
when?
Dr. CARRICO. I think I have talked to the press twice.
Mr. Burrus, a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald, talked to me about 5
minutes, probably 3 or 4 days after the President's death, and then a reporter
from Time called about 3 or 4 weeks after the President's death, and I talked to
him for a very few minutes.
Representative FORD. Did you make any statements in either of these
interviews that are different from the observations you have made here this
morning?
Dr. CARRICO. Not that I recall.
Representative FORD. That is all.
Mr. DULLES. Mr. Chief Justice, could I--off the record.
(Discussion off the record.)
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The CHAIRMAN. Well, Doctor, thank you very much. We appreciate your help.
Dr. CARRICO. Certainly. Glad to be here.
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