The testimony of Dr. Jackie Hansen Hunt was taken at 1:12 p.m., on
March 24, 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. Jackie H. Hunt is present,
and may I show for the record that the President's Commission on the
Assassination of President Kennedy is conducting an inquiry into all
the facts surrounding the assassination of the President, and the
medical care performed on President Kennedy at Parkland Memorial
Hospital.
Dr. Hunt appears here today in response to a letter requesting that her
deposition be taken, and may the record reflect the additional fact
that Dr. Hunt is a lady doctor.
Would you at this time, Dr. Hunt, stand up and raise your right hand?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you 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. HUNT. I do, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you state your full name, please?
Dr. HUNT. Jackie Hansen Hunt, H-a-n-s-e-n (spelling).
Mr. SPECTER. And what is your profession?
Dr. HUNT. Medical doctor.
Mr. SPECTER. And, are you duly licensed to practice medicine by the
State of Texas?
Dr. HUNT. I am.
Mr. SPECTER. And in what year were you so licensed?
Dr. HUNT. 1950.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you outline briefly your educational background,
please?
Dr. HUNT. I graduated from medical school at Tulane College of Medicine
in 1949. I had a year of rotating internship followed by a year of
pediatric residency. In 1961 I started a residency in anesthesiology,
which I completed in 1963, and I am now a fellow in anesthesiology.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you board certified, then, Dr. Hunt, at this time?
Dr. HUNT. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you working toward board certification?
Dr. HUNT. Yes, I am. I am eligible and will take the first part in June.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have occasion on November 22 to render medical aid
to the late President Kennedy?
Dr. HUNT. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you relate briefly the circumstances surrounding your
being called into the case?
Dr. HUNT. I was in Parkland Hospital on duty with the anesthesiology
department and was notified by our chief of staff, Dr. M. T. Jenkins,
that the President had been shot. Together with Dr. Giesecke and
Dr. Akin, I got an anesthesia machine and put it on an elevator and
checked it out and set it up on the way to the emergency room and took
it into the emergency room where the President was and he had been
intubated, and I helped Dr. Jenkins connect the anesthesia machine to
the endotracheal tube which at that time was being run, I believe, by
a Bird machine, and after making certain that the connections were
properly done, I placed the equipment in Dr. Jenkins' hands.
Mr. SPECTER. What doctors were present when you arrived there, Dr. Hunt?
Dr. HUNT. Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Malc Perry--quite a number of others--I just
can't remember who was there today.
Mr. SPECTER. Were any nurses present?
Dr. HUNT. Yes--I don't know the names of any of them.
Mr. SPECTER. What, if anything, did you observe as to the condition of
President Kennedy?
Dr. HUNT. The first good look I took at him I noticed that his eyes
were opened and that the pupils were widely dilated and fixed and so I
assumed that he was in essence dead.
Mr. SPECTER. At approximately what time did you arrive in the emergency
room?
Dr. HUNT. I don't know--it would have been--I would think near 12:45,
but I have really never even thought about it and I frankly don't
remember.
Mr. SPECTER. And how long after you arrived did you have an opportunity
to observe the President in the way which you have just described?
Dr. HUNT. How long was it from the time I came in until I looked at him?
Mr. SPECTER. Yes, ma'am.
Dr. HUNT. A minute--2 minutes.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have any other observations at that time?
Dr. HUNT. No--other than that everyone was working on him. They were
doing cardiac massage, closed chest massage, I.V.'s were running, and
others were being started.
Mr. SPECTER. I.V.'s?
Dr. HUNT. Intravenous fluids and, of course, our department was
breathing for him.
Mr. SPECTER. And when you say "breathing for him," what do you mean by
that?
Dr. HUNT. Ventilating him--an endotracheal tube down into the trachea
attached to an anesthesia machine with 100 percent oxygen going, and by
manual compression of the bag, ventilating him.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you observe any wounds on the President?
Dr. HUNT. I actually did not see the wounds.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you at any time see a wound to the head?
Dr. HUNT. No; I didn't see it.
Mr. SPECTER. And was there something obscuring your view from seeing
the head wound?
Dr. HUNT. Yes; I could see his face and I could also see that a great
deal of blood was running off of the table from his right side and I
was on his left side.
Mr. SPECTER. Were you near his head or foot or the middle of the body?
Dr. HUNT. I was about midbody actually, well, no--more at his shoulder,
when I leaned over to look at him.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you ever observe any wound in the neck?
Dr. HUNT. I did not actually see the wound in the neck. I say that
because I assumed there was a wound--someone's hand was there and there
was blood present, but there was blood on nearly everyone.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the condition of his throat when you first
observed him, if you did observe it at all?
Dr. HUNT. I couldn't--I don't know--I can't say. You mean, as far as
inside or outside?
Mr. SPECTER. Outside.
Dr. HUNT. I don't actually remember seeing anything except someone's
hands were using a sponge or something was present in the area.
Mr. SPECTER. What medical operation, if any, was performed on his
throat?
Dr. HUNT. I don't know.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you observe a tracheotomy being performed on his
throat?
Dr. HUNT. No--that's not to say that they were not doing one.
Mr. SPECTER. What else was done for the President other than that which
you have already described?
Dr. HUNT. Well, let's see, I don't--as far as actual observation,
I didn't--other things were done--I left at this time and went to
Governor Connally.
Mr. SPECTER. At about what time did you leave President Kennedy?
Dr. HUNT. I was probably in the room no more than 4 minutes at the most.
Mr. SPECTER. Had he been pronounced dead by the time you left?
Dr. HUNT. No; he had not.
Mr. SPECTER. And where did you go when you left the President's room?
Dr. HUNT. Straight across to operating room 2.
Mr. SPECTER. And what did you find in operating room 2 when you arrived
there?