Dr. Jones. The wound in the throat was probably no larger than a quarter of an inch in diameter. There appeared to be no powder burn present, although this could have been masked by the amount of blood that was on the head and neck, although there was no obvious amount of powder present. There appeared to be a very minimal amount of disruption of interruption of the surrounding skin. There appeared to be relatively smooth edges around the wound, and if this occurred as a result of a missile, you would have probably thought it was a missile of very low velocity and probably could have been compatible with a bone fragment of either—probably exiting from the neck, but it was a very small, smooth wound.
Mr. Specter. Did you notice any lump in the throat area?
Dr. Jones. No; I didn't.
Mr. Specter. Was there any blood on the throat area in the vicinity of the wound which you have described of the throat?
Dr. Jones. Not a great deal of blood, as if in relation to the amount that was around the head—not too much.
Mr. Specter. What further action was taken by the medical team in addition to that which you have described on the tracheotomy?
Dr. Jones. Well, as Dr. Perry started the tracheotomy, I started the cut down in the left arm to insert a large polyethylene catheter, to give an I.V. so that we could give I.V. solutions as well as blood, and at the same time another doctor or two were doing some cutdowns in the lower extremities around the ankle. We made the cutdown in the left arm in the cephalic vein very rapidly and I.V. fluids were started immediately and as I was doing this, Dr. Perry was performing the tracheotomy, and it was about this time that Dr. Baxter came in and went ahead to assist Dr. Perry with the tracheotomy, and as they made a deeper incision in the neck to isolate the trachea, they thought they saw some gush of air and the possibility of a pneumothorax on one side or the other was entertained, and since I was to the left of the President, I went ahead and put in the anterior chest tube in the second intercostal space.
Mr. Specter. Was that tube fully inserted, Doctor?
Dr. Jones. I felt that the tube was fully inserted, and this was immediately connected to underwater drainage.
Mr. Specter. What do you mean by "connected to underwater drainage", Dr. Jones?