tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">254

Hearings Before the President's Commission
on the
Assassination of President Kennedy

TESTIMONY OF DR. CHARLES J. CARRICO

The testimony of Dr. Charles J. Carrico was taken at 9:30 a.m., on March 25, 1964, at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Arlen Specter, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.

Mr. Specter. May the record show that Dr. Charles J. Carrico is present in response to a letter request for him to appear so that his deposition may be taken in connection with the proceedings of the President's Commission on the Investigation of the Assassination of President Kennedy in connection with the inquiry into all phases of that assassination, including medical care rendered at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Carrico has been asked to testify relating to the treatment which he rendered the President at Parkland Hospital. With that preliminary statement of purpose, Dr. Carrico, would you please stand up and raise your right hand.

Do you solemnly swear the testimony you will give before the President's Commission in this deposition proceeding will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Dr. Carrico. I do.

Mr. Specter. Would you state your full name for the record, please?

Dr. Carrico. Charles James Carrico.

Mr. Specter. What is your profession, sir?

Dr. Carrico. Physician.

Mr. Specter. Are you duly licensed by the State of Texas to practice medicine?

Dr. Carrico. Yes.

Mr. Specter. And would you outline briefly your educational background, please?

Dr. Carrico. I attended grade school and high school in Denton, Tex.; received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from North Texas State College in 1957, and an M.D. from Southwestern Medical School in 1961, and served an internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital from 1961 to 1962, and a year of Fellowship in Surgery at Southwestern, followed by my residency here.

Mr. Specter. Are you working toward any specialty training, Doctor?

Dr. Carrico. I am engaged in a general surgery residency which will qualify me for my boards in general surgery.

Mr. Specter. And what were your duties on November 22, 1963, at Parkland Hospital?

Dr. Carrico. At that time I was assigned to the elective surgery service and was in the emergency room seeing some patients for evaluation for admission to the hospital.

Mr. Specter. And what were you doing specifically around 12 o'clock noon?

Dr. Carrico. Approximately 12 noon or shortly thereafter I was in the clinic and was called to come into the emergency room to see these people and evaluate them for admission and treatment.

Mr. Specter. Were you notified that there was an emergency case on the way to the hospital at approximately 12:30?

Dr. Carrico. Yes.

Mr. Specter. In which President Kennedy was involved?

Dr. Carrico. At that time I was in the emergency room seeing these patients and the call was received that the President had been shot and was on his way to the hospital.

Mr. Specter. What is your best recollection as to what time it was when you received that call?

Dr. Carrico. This was probably shortly after 12:30.

Mr. Specter. And how long after that call was received did the President's party actually arrive at Parkland?

Dr. Carrico. An estimation would be 2 minutes or less.

Mr. Specter. Describe what occurred upon the arrival of the President's party at Parkland, please.

Dr. Carrico. We were in the emergency room preparing equipment in response to the call we had received when the nurse said over the intercom that they were here. Governor Connally was rolled in first and was taken to one of the trauma rooms.

Mr. Specter. And what identification was given to the trauma room to which Governor Connally was taken?

Dr. Carrico. Trauma room 2.

Mr. Specter. Who was present at the time that Governor Connally came into the emergency area?

Dr. Carrico. As I recall, Dr. Richard Dulany, myself, several of the nurses, Miss Bowron is the only one I can definitely remember. Don Curtis, oral surgery resident, and I believe Martin White, the intern, was there. These are the only people I remember being present at that time. We had already sent out a call for Dr. Baxter and Dr. Perry and the rest of the staff.

Mr. Specter. Did Dr. Dulany take any part in the treatment of President Kennedy?

Dr. Carrico. No, no, sir; he didn't.

Mr. Specter. Did Dr. Martin White take any part in the treatment of President Kennedy?

Dr. Carrico. I believe he was in there and did the—he helped Dr. Curtis with the cutdown, the initial cutdown.

Mr. Specter. What did Dr. Dulany do?

Dr. Carrico. Dr. Dulany and I initially went to see the Governor, as I said, and he stayed with the Governor while I went to attend to the President, care for the President.

Mr. Specter. Who was the first doctor to reach President Kennedy on his arrival at Parkland Hospital?

Dr. Carrico. I was.

Mr. Specter. And who else was with President Kennedy on his arrival, as best you can recollect it?

Dr. Carrico. Mrs. Kennedy was there, and there were some men in the room, who I assumed were Secret Service men; I don't know.

Mr. Specter. Can you identify any nurses who were present, in addition to Miss Bowron?

Dr. Carrico. No, I don't recall any of them.

Mr. Specter. What did you observe as to the President's condition upon his arrival?

Dr. Carrico. He was lying on a carriage, his respirations were slow, spasmodic, described as agonal.

Mr. Specter. What do you mean by "agonal" if I may interrupt you for just a moment there, Doctor?

Dr. Carrico. These are respirations seen in one who has lost the normal coordinated central control of respiration. These are spasmodic and usually reflect a terminal patient.

Mr. Specter. Would you continue to describe your observations of the President?

Dr. Carrico. His—the President's color—I don't believe I said—he was an ashen, bluish, grey, cyanotic, he was making no spontaneous movements, I mean, no voluntary movements at all. We opened his shirt and coat and tie and observed a small wound in the anterior lower third of the neck, listened very briefly, heard a few cardiac beats, felt the President's back, and detected no large or sucking chest wounds,