Dr. Jones. The tube is connected to a bottle whereby it aerates in the chest from a pneumothorax and as the patient breathes, the air is forced out under the water and produces somewhat of a suction so that the lung will reexpand and will not stay collapsed and this will give adequate aeration to the body, and we decided to go ahead and put in a chest tube on the opposite side; since I could not reach the opposite side due to the number of people that were working on the President. Dr. Baxter was over there helping Dr. Perry on that side, as well as Dr. Paul Peters, the assistant head of urology here, and the three of us then inserted the chest tube on the right side, primarily done by Dr. Baxter and Dr. Peters on the right side.
Mr. Specter. Then what other treatment, if any, was afforded President Kennedy?
Dr. Jones. After the tracheotomy was done, the intravenous fluid, blood was started—I believe that the President was also administered some hydrocortisone because of his history of adrenal insufficiency, and at this time an electrocardiogram had been connected and it showed no evidence of a heartbeat. Closed cardiac massage was then first begun by Dr. Perry and then I believe that after about 5 minutes no significant or no myocardial activity was present and he was pronounced dead.
Mr. Specter. What history did you refer to of President Kennedy's adrenal insufficiency?
Dr. Jones. As I recall, there had been in news that the President had several years ago been on some type of steroid therapy and that he possibly had Addison's disease. We had no documented evidence that he did or did not, but caution was taken nonetheless in case his insufficiency was of severe enough nature, because at the time of severe trauma a patient with adrenal insufficiency often goes into a rapid degree of adrenal insufficiency and can expire from lack of steroids being produced from the adrenal gland in such a stressed situation.
Mr. Specter. Did you obtain that history from Mrs. Kennedy, or any other person on the scene?
Dr. Jones. No.
Mr. Specter. You just relied upon what had been occurring in the news?
Dr. Jones. Yes.
Mr. Specter. What would that reaction cause, if anything, if the President had no adrenal insufficiency?