2.Christina Carpio — Direct/Cross/Redirect
301 linesBAILIFF: Court, all rise. The jury's in.
BAILIFF: Hear ye, Hear ye, hear ye. All persons having anything to do before the Honorable William F. Sullivan, Justice of the Superior Court now sitting in Plymouth within the Court of Commonwealth. Draw near, give your attendance, and you shall be heard. By the state of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this court is now in session. Please be seated.
COURT CLERK: Good morning, Your Honor. May I proceed?
THE COURT: Yes, please.
COURT CLERK: Your Honor, before the court today, we have the continuation of the jury trial in the matter of Commonwealth versus Lindsay Clancy. Ms. Clancy is present. She is represented by Attorney Kevin Reddington. The Commonwealth is represented by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague and Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham.
THE COURT: Well, good morning, everyone.
JURORS: Good morning.
THE COURT: Sun's out today, a little nicer weather for us, so it feels nice for you coming in here today. So what I'm gonna do is ask you those questions, as I always do, and then I'll go over a little bit the schedule, and then we'll return to the Commonwealth's case. All right, so the first question, everybody's probably got it memorized by now anyway, but let me ask it. Has any member of the jury read, seen, heard, or overheard anything from any source about any aspect of this case that would affect your ability to be fair and impartial?
JURORS: No.
THE COURT: All right. Last question. Is there any other matter, serious matter, or concern bearing on your service as a juror in this case that anybody needs to bring to my attention at this time?
JURORS: No.
THE COURT: All right. Again, thank you for following those instructions. Now, in regards to the schedule, if you remember, I said yesterday that sometimes we have to adjust on the fly, and it's gonna be my call. Well, we may have to do that a little bit. All right? So today, we're gonna go through some cases. Now, we may break a little bit early today. All right? And now, and then tomorrow, these, there is a matter I'm gonna have to talk to counsel pretty much in the afternoon. So the thought is tomorrow, the plan for you should be pretty much nine to one. All right? And then the afternoon, I'm gonna deal with counsel in regards to some other issues that will, I believe, keep this case going well on track, and that's kinda where we are. So I just kinda wanted to give you that update. So that's, like I said, the best we could do, give you as much notice in regards to that. But it— we will— you will not... I say we. You will not be sitting here tomorrow afternoon. We may be.
THE COURT: And so with that, what we're gonna do is continue with the Commonwealth's case. We're gonna go back. Commonwealth, call your next witness, please.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you. The Commonwealth would call Christina Carpio.
BAILIFF: Can you just stop right there and raise your right hand for the clerk, please?
THE COURT: Good morning.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Good morning, sir.
THE COURT: All right. Attorney Buckingham, please.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you. Good morning.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Morning.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Could you please tell the jury your first and last name?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Christina Carpio.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And can you spell your last name for the record?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: C-A-R, P as in Peter, I-O.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what do you do for work?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I am a general surgeon trained in trauma and critical care.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And where do you currently work?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I'm hired by Brigham, but I work at South Shore Hospital.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Can you tell us a little bit about your educational background?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I completed medical school and then went to general surgery residency for five years at Columbia Presbyterian. I then did two additional years of trauma and surgical critical care at Yale, and then I've been working for Brigham and South Shore Hospital since 2016.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And explain to us how it is that you work for both Brigham and South Shore Hospital as a trauma surgeon.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Brigham has many physicians of all specialties who are at South Shore Hospital. At one point, I think there was a merger attempted between the two institutions. Either way, my salary comes from Brigham, but I work only at South Shore Hospital.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay, so that was kind of my follow-up question. Generally, your day-to-day work is at the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: That's correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what kind of hospital or what level hospital, trauma level hospital, is the South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: A level II.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so if there are cases that come in that need more acute care, are they generally sent over to a hospital in Boston like the Brigham?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, depending. Sometimes we get input from the subspecialists to guide that decision.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And as far as your role as a trauma surgeon, do you actually do surgeries at the South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, that's correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: I'm gonna draw your attention to January 24th of 2023. Were you working at the South Shore Hospital that day?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what was your role that day?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I was the on-call surgeon. I was physically in the hospital working.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: At some point in the evening hours, were you advised that a patient was being transported to the South Shore emergency room as a level I trauma?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so when you are advised of that level of trauma or you're advised of an critical patient coming into the emergency department, what do you do?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: There are guidelines for how quickly we have to be present in the emergency room. Because I'm also operating, at times I may be in the operating room when that notification happens.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So in this particular case, when a patient, a female patient by the name of Lindsay Clancy was coming into the emergency department, were you able to go down to the emergency department as part of the assessment team?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And who were you working with from the emergency department in this case?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Dr. Kelly McDonough.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Now, is that a common thing that you collaborate with the emergency room doctors or nurses and technicians in a situation like this?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Did you have information that came in through the EMS or the paramedics about the nature of the patient's condition?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I recall that we were told it was a fall of unclear mechanism from a height of about 20 feet.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And were you advised that there was the possibility of maybe neurological deficits or some serious spinal injury?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And as a result of that information, did that inform your trauma assessment?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: It was already activated as a level I. That's the highest mechanism when there is concern for a height from a certain—a fall from a height of a certain level and with possible neurological injury.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So were members of the neurology department also part of that trauma assessment team?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. As far as your assessment, did you go and physically see the patient and make observations?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And did you observe her in the emergency department to be intubated?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Shortly after arrival she was intubated.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So that was done by the staff at South Shore Hospital, to your knowledge?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And did you observe injuries to her neck and her wrists?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Did you evaluate those to determine whether they needed immediate surgical intervention?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Did they?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: No. They were superficial.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And as far as additional tests to assess whether there's any other surgical intervention that's needed, are you aware that CT scans were ordered?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And are you aware what areas of the body they were ordered for?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: We did a pan scan, which means we scan the head, the neck, the chest, and the abdomen/pelvis.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: As far as your physical observations of the patient, did you observe any obvious injuries to her head area like abrasions, contusions, fractures?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: There were lacerations to her neck.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. But as far as the rest of her head or around her, like—
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Not obvious, no.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: ... skull or face. And so when those CT scans were done, were you able to review the information that came from them?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And as far as those CT scans, you're aware that there was a head CT scan or two head CT scans, one with contrast and one without?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Mm-hmm.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And as, were you aware that the findings, were there no definite acute intracranial findings on the non-contrast enhanced head CT?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And there were no significant findings on the contrast head CT, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The head CT with contrast was a, what we call an angiogram head and neck, so it's ordered in two parts and has two reports. At the time of the no- or the documentation that was performed, we had the report back on the head section, but the neck was not completed at that time.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Was there eventually a completed angiogram of the neck area at South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The images were done. The report was completed. I don't know the timeline of when the report came in compared to when the patient was transferred.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So as far as your initial assessment in that trauma assessment period or... that wasn't information you had available to you about the neck findings, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The angio neck findings, correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. Okay. And that's different from other CT scans on the cervical spine and other areas of the spine. Is that fair to say?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, that's correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. As the trauma surgeon evaluating this case, did you identify that there were some serious spinal injuries to the cervical and thoracic areas?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Did any of those require you to intervene with surgical intervention?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Do you recall making note that while in the emergency department the patient became hypertensive and that she was identified as being hypothermic to 82.1 degrees?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I remember that she was hypothermic, when I reviewed my documentation. The two numbers I saw on my note were normal values of blood pressure, not high values, not hypertension.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. If I may approach you just with one of the pages from the notes for you to review. And you can just tell me if I'm misinterpreting.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Oh, no problem.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Yeah.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Which part?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: It's towards the bottom, the last—second to last paragraph.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Oh, she was... Sorry, she was hypotensive, which means low blood pressure, different from hypertension, which is high blood pressure.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yeah.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Sorry.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yeah. No, no, not at all.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: But as far as the hypothermic, that you recall that she was at a very low core body temperature?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, that's correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And do you know what was done to raise her body temperature?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: We raised the temperature in the trauma room to be able to raise her body temperature. That's usually our first line of intervention.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And do you also have available to you at the South Shore Hospital what's called a Bair Hugger or some sort of blanket or wrappings that you can wrap around an individual to try to get their body temperature up?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, we have that.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And at some point her body temperature did come up to 95.2 degrees, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And based on your observations of her, did anything change about those lacerations that you observed once her body temperature was up that warranted some surgical intervention of those injuries?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: What was the ultimate recommendation for the care of this patient?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: She had complex fractures in her spine at the thoracic level. We conferred with our neurosurgery colleague who was on call, who recommended transfer to a tertiary hospital.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so where did this patient go?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Brigham.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. Now you identified that your hospital is a level two trauma, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: After fully reviewing this patient, did you agree that this was a level one trauma situation?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Are you able to do surgical intervention for these particular injuries that you observed on this patient at South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The spinal injuries require input from our neurosurgical team.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And there was none available to you at the South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: We did contact the on-call neurosurgeon. Because we are a level two trauma center, they don't—they are not required to be physically present in the hospital.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Mm-hmm.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: But they were immediately available and they can remotely review images.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So I guess my question is, why didn't you do any surgeries regarding those injuries at South Shore Hospital? Why did you recommend the care to a tertiary hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The complex level spinal injuries was deemed necessary for transfer by our neurosurgery colleague.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. Thank you.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Mm-hmm.
THE COURT: Attorney Reddington.
MR. REDDINGTON: Morning.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Good morning.
MR. REDDINGTON: Just a few questions. So South Shore Hospital, and you made reference to as being a trauma hospital, and the injuries suffered by Lindsay were level one. Is that what it was?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, that's correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: That would be the highest level, is that right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: As far as risk or concern of the person's safety and health and survival?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: What time, if you remember, what time approximately was she admitted to South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The word admission means that she would have remained there as a patient, so she was never formally admitted.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: For the time that she was brought in by EMS, I would have to refer to that information from the record.
MR. REDDINGTON: Do you have an idea as to how long she was at your hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: It, likely several hours, but again, I would have to see the specifics in the charts of tran- There is documentation with EMS for arrival and for when transfer occurred to Brigham.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And at some point it was decided that she would be transferred to Boston, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Brigham and Women's Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And it was decided by someone that they weren't gonna put her in an ambulance for that transport, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I would have to look at the record for what was the method of transfer to Brigham.
MR. REDDINGTON: Do you know how she was transferred? By helicopter? Med flight?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I don't know 'cause med flight can also... Med flight covers two modes of transportation: med flight ambulance and med flight helicopter.
MR. REDDINGTON: Do you know that she was med flight helicopter to Boston?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I don't know that.
MR. REDDINGTON: And the time that she left was after you all had provided the treatment that you were able to provide to Lindsay as a patient, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And you reached the end of your rope. She had to be transferred because she needed immediate high-level medical care, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: She needed higher level of care, yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Higher level of care. And as a result, she was then brought to Brigham and Women's Hospital. Now, the treatment that you had given would include raising her, apparently, temperature. I guess, 'cause she came in at a low temperature, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And did you use IV fluids?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I would have to check the record.
MR. REDDINGTON: Did she—
CHRISTINA CARPIO: But that is a common intervention.
MR. REDDINGTON: So your memory would be that you believe that you used IV fluids, but you'd have to have me get out of the box and check the record to ask that question, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes. Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. It didn't really work out very well though, did it? Because you know that when she was brought to Boston, after all of the time that she was treated at your hospital, she was still core temperature of 82 when she hit Brigham and Women's.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Objection.
THE COURT: No, allow it if she knows.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I did not look at the medical record from another institution. I only reviewed my note from South Shore Hospital.
MR. REDDINGTON: Did you know that your patient had coded shortly after being brought to Brigham and Women's Hospital?
MR. REDDINGTON: Did you know that she had to have massive transfusions right after being brought to the hospital in Boston?
MR. REDDINGTON: Did anybody in South Shore Hospital make a determination that she had lost a lot of blood?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: There was... The EMS report did not share that there was a large volume of blood at the scene. She was evaluated to... Part of her CAT scans also help us evaluate for intra-abdominal blood loss.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. So when you raise the issue of the EMS, that would be the ambulance, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And their report, their run sheet that they prepare, right? That's what you're talking about, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: There is verbal report from EMS when a patient is brought in and also the run sheet of the details.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And when the people from the EMS came in, did they speak to you about the verbal report?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: They speak, they address the entire room, so all the staff in the room is available to hear the details.
MR. REDDINGTON: And you're able to look at the run sheet, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: No, the run sheet is not always immediately available.
MR. REDDINGTON: So did the EMTs, to your knowledge as a treating surgeon physician in the trauma center, tell you that there was blood loss?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Not to my recollection.
MR. REDDINGTON: Do you have... Did anyone tell you that there, at the scene where she was being treated after coming out of the window and striking the ground, that there was blood on the snow and on the leaves and in the grass?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I cannot recall if they commented on that.
MR. REDDINGTON: Is that important for you to know if there's blood loss on a patient?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: If there is a large volume of blood loss, yes, the EMS will routinely comment on a patient being found—
MR. REDDINGTON: No, but that's the EMS. You're the surgeon, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: That is correct, sir. Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Yeah. And one of the things would be blood pressure, right? What the person's blood pressure is, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And she had, if I understand your testimony correctly, low blood pressure.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: She initially, when she came in, the note has a normal blood pressure, and then after intubation, her blood pressure dropped.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Do you know what caused the blood pressure to drop?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: There were several factors at play. As we discovered from her CAT scan, she had an injury to her spinal cord in the thoracic region that very commonly causes issues with maintaining your blood pressure.
MR. REDDINGTON: And do you know what her blood pressure was? I mean, if you don't, that's fine. You'd need the records.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Blood pressure at which point?
MR. REDDINGTON: At the point I'm asking you about, when you noted that she had low blood pressure.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: No, I don't remember how hypotensive she was, no.
MR. REDDINGTON: As far as being hypotensive, did you know that when she finally hit the Boston hospital that she had massive transfusion of blood?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I thought you... I thought I asked and answered.
MR. REDDINGTON: Oh, did you?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: You asked me before and I answered that no, I did not know that.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. So how about, did you know that they introduced pleural tubes in both sides of her chest and removed many, many ccs of blood from both the right and left pleural cavity?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Your Honor, I just object to the line of questioning. The witness has already indicated she hasn't reviewed those records. She's not aware of what happened at the Brigham.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: To go through each and every injury is not necessary.
THE COURT: No, she can answer that.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: No, I did, I do not know that about the patient when she was not at South Shore Hospital.
MR. REDDINGTON: How about the superficial cuts that you were talking about? Would you suggest, or would you agree that on the right ulnar area and the left ulnar area of the upper extremities, right and left, that there were a deep cut noted in the skin?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The notes about her wrist injuries said that it was through the skin with exposed fat, but there was no exposed muscle or tendon.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: So those are more superficial.
MR. REDDINGTON: So you would not agree that they were deep cuts on both arms? You wouldn't agree with that?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: No, I would not.
MR. REDDINGTON: And again, you're not aware of anything that was diagnosed in Brigham and Women's Hospital, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: That is correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: As far as the injury to her spine, what kind of injury was it? Do you remember?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: It was at thoracic level T5, T6.
MR. REDDINGTON: And what type of injury was this to the spine?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The report said that the stability of the pattern of it indicated that there was instability of the spine, which is why we conferred with the neurosurgeon.
MR. REDDINGTON: Right. And nothing much came out of that either, as far as conferring with the neurosurgeon, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I'm not sure what you mean by “nothing much came of that.”
MR. REDDINGTON: Well, he didn't show up to come to the hospital, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: We didn't... The, I'm not sure what you mean.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. The spine was transected at T5, T6, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The person, the team, or rather the input you would need for further commentary on the spine would be a neurosurgery team. I am not a neurosurgeon.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I am a general surgeon.
MR. REDDINGTON: So you're not aware of the transection. You know what a transection is, don't you?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. And on your CAT scans or on your pictures that you were describing for the jury with no problem for the DA, did you notice that the spine was transected at T5 and T6?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: There was compression of the bones. I would have to specifically look at the report to see if it used the word transection.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. How about a thyroid? Did you notice anything about a thyroid?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: The— it said that there was concern, there was edema at the thyroid, concern for contusion or laceration.
MR. REDDINGTON: And that's the extent of your knowledge. You don't know whether or not the thyroid was destroyed or anything, do you?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. How about her ribs? You noticed that some of her ribs were broken.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I would have to look at her CAT scan report again.
MR. REDDINGTON: Have to look at... Yeah. So coming in here today, you're not aware whether or not she had broken ribs, because you haven't been able to look at your records. Is that right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I did review my records. I would have to specifically state into the record what was the injuries, I would be happy to read from my note, which I know is part of the evidence.
MR. REDDINGTON: So, yeah. So who is it that decides that a patient is gonna be med-flighted into Boston from South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Some of it depends on the level of injury and the transport teams that are available at that moment. Sometimes a med flight ambulance is faster, sometimes med flight is available. It all depends on the available resources at the time of the event.
MR. REDDINGTON: So what I asked you is who decides whether or not somebody's getting med-flighted out of South Shore Hospital?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: It is collaborative between what resources are available for us to transport the patient. The decision to transfer the patient is made between the emergency room team and the trauma team—
MR. REDDINGTON: So you as the—
CHRISTINA CARPIO: ...and the input from the subspecialists.
MR. REDDINGTON: Go ahead.
THE COURT: Let her finish.
MR. REDDINGTON: Yeah, I know.
MR. REDDINGTON: I didn't know she was still talking. Go ahead.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I finished, sir.
MR. REDDINGTON: All right. So you as the trauma surgeon, would you agree that you had a little bit to do with whether or not she was in dire straits and had to be med-flighted to Boston?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I would be part of the decision to transfer her.
MR. REDDINGTON: Do you remember that decision being made, and do you remember the meeting that you had to make that decision?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: I remember conferring with the emergency room team that neurosurgery had said she needed transfer.
MR. REDDINGTON: And it was by med flight, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Again—
MR. REDDINGTON: You don't know whether it's an ambulance or a helicopter, but you know it was med flight.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: It should have been med flight, yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. That's all I had.
THE COURT: All right. Commonwealth, any redirect?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Just very briefly. Doctor, it was very clear to you that this patient was suffering from multiple injuries?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And is it the policy of South Shore Hospital to make sure a patient is stable before they're transported?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, that's correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so that's what the emergency team and the entire team that's collaborating on her did, right?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes, correct. We would not put an unstable patient in any mode of transport to another facility.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So in the review of all the CT scans, the abdominal scans, the head scans, the chest X-rays, all of the things that were reviewed, it was identified that she was stable enough to be transferred to another—
MR. REDDINGTON: So I'm gonna object because I think she's being—
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: ... a hostile witness, and this is leading, which I haven't objected to yet, but at this point I am on this witness.
THE COURT: I'll allow this question.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: I'm sorry, what was your answer?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Could you repeat the question, please?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Sure. So after reviewing all of the imaging, the CT scans, the chest X-rays, everything, you and your team were comfortable that she was stable enough to be transported to another hospital, correct?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And I think your testimony was that a large contributor to the decision to transport was the information that you got from the neurosurgery team?
CHRISTINA CARPIO: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you. Nothing further.
THE COURT: Anything on that, Mr. Reddington?
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, doctor.
CHRISTINA CARPIO: All right. Thank you, sir.
THE COURT: All right. Commonwealth?