Warren Commission (04 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (04 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
There is also a railroad crossing at this particular point. I saw an
open limousine pass this point at high speed with a police escort.
We were held up in traffic because of this escort. Finally, when we
were allowed to proceed, I went on to the medical school expecting to
eat lunch. I had the radio on because it was the day that I knew the
President was in Dallas and would be eating lunch at the Trade Mart
which was not far away, and over the radio I heard the report that the
President had been shot at while riding in the motorcade. I went on to
the medical school and as I entered the medical school a student came
in and joined three other students, and said the President has just
been brought into the emergency room at Parkland, dead on arrival.
The students said, "You are kidding, aren't you?" and he said, "No,
I am not. I saw him, and Governor Connally has been shot through the
chest."
Hearing that I turned and walked over to the emergency room, which
is approximately 150 yards from the medical school, and entered the
emergency room.
Mr. SPECTER. At approximately what time did you arrive at the emergency
room where Governor Connally was situated?
Dr. SHAW. As near as I could tell it was about 12:45.
Mr. SPECTER. Who was with Governor Connally, if anyone, at that time,
Dr. Shaw?
Dr. SHAW. I immediately recognized two of the men who worked with me in
thoracic surgery, Dr. James Duke and Dr. James Boland, Dr. Giesecke,
who is an anesthesiologist, was also there along with a Dr. David
Mebane who is an instructor in general surgery.
Mr. SPECTER. What was Governor Connally's condition at that time, based
on your observations?
Dr. SHAW. The Governor was complaining bitterly of difficulty in
breathing, and of pain in his right chest. Prior to my arriving there,
the men had very properly placed a tight occlusive dressing over what
on later examination proved to be a large sucking wound in the front of
his right chest, and they had inserted a rubber tube between the second
and third ribs in the front of the right chest, carrying this tube to
what we call a water seal bottle.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the purpose?
Dr. SHAW. Yes; this is done to reexpand the right lung which had
collapsed due to the opening through the chest wall.
Mr. SPECTER. What wounds, if any, did you observe on the Governor at
that time?
Dr. SHAW. I observed no wounds on the Governor at this time. It wasn't
until he was taken to the operating room that I properly examined him
from the standpoint of the wound.
Mr. SPECTER. How long after your initial viewing of him was he taken to
the operating room?
Dr. SHAW. Within about 5 minutes. I stepped outside to talk to Mrs.
Connally because I had been given information by Dr. Duke that
blood had been drawn from the Governor, sent to the laboratory for
cross-matching for blood that we knew would be necessary, that the
operating room had already been alerted, and that they were ready and
they were merely awaiting my arrival.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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