Warren Commission (06 of 26): Hearings Vol. VI (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (06 of 26): Hearings Vol. VI (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Dr. CURTIS. I did until he was pronounced dead.
Mr. SPECTER. What action was taken by anyone else in the trauma room
while you were there?
Dr. CURTIS. My attention was focused on what I was doing, so I wasn't
aware--I knew that a cutdown was being performed and that is about all
I could see. I mean, I knew that a tracheotomy was being performed.
Mr. SPECTER. What other doctors were present there at that time?
Dr. CURTIS. I know that Dr. Perry was there and I know Dr. Baxter was
there, and then I recall Dr. Jenkins from the Anesthesia Department,
and Dr. Seldin, Dr. Crenshaw, and that's about all the doctors--I could
think of others probably, but I can't remember now.
Mr. SPECTER. Can you identify any other nurses who were there?
Dr. CURTIS. No; I can't--I wasn't paying attention to the nurses.
Mr. SPECTER. During the course of your presence near President Kennedy,
did you have any opportunity to observe any wounds on his body?
Dr. CURTIS. After I had completed the cutdown, I went around to the
right side of the patient and saw the head wound.
Mr. SPECTER. And what did you observe there?
Dr. CURTIS. Oh--fragments of bone and a gross injury to the cranial
contents, with copious amounts of hemorrhage.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you observe any other wound on the President?
Dr. CURTIS. No; I didn't. As I said before, I noticed the mass in the
pre-tracheal area.
Mr. SPECTER. And when you say "as you said before," you mean in our
previous discussions prior to going on the record here?
Dr. CURTIS. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And will you state now for the record what you did notice
with respect to the tracheal area?
Dr. CURTIS. The President's head was extended or hyperextended and I
noticed that in the suprasternal notch there was a mass that looked
like a hematoma to me, or a blood clot in the tissues.
Mr. SPECTER. How big was that hematoma?
Dr. CURTIS. Oh, I think it was 5 cm. in size.
Mr. SPECTER. What color was it?
Dr. CURTIS. It had no color--there was just skin overlying it.
Mr. SPECTER. What did it appear to be?
Dr. CURTIS. Probably a hematoma.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you observe any perforation or hole in the President's
throat?
Dr. CURTIS. No; I didn't. But that doesn't mean it wasn't there.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have an opportunity to look closely for it?
Dr. CURTIS. I focused my attention on his neck for an instant, and
that's all.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you hear any discussion among any of the doctors about
an opening on his neck?
Dr. CURTIS. No; I didn't.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you make any written report concerning your activity
on the President?
Dr. CURTIS. No; I didn't.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you any notes or writings of any sort concerning your
work with the President?
Dr. CURTIS. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you talked to any representatives of the Federal
Government about your participation in treating President Kennedy
before today?
Dr. CURTIS. No; I haven't.
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