Trauma doctor: Today Lincoln might survive being shot, but . . .

BALTIMORE -- Abraham Lincoln might have survived being shot if today's medical technology had existed in 1865.

Given that scenario, the question is whether Lincoln would have recovered well enough to return to office, says a doctor and historian who planned to speak Friday at an annual University of Maryland School of Medicine conference on the deaths of historic figures.

While the conference has traditionally re-examined the deaths of historic figures to determine if the diagnosis of the time was correct, this year's event asks if Lincoln could have been saved and what impact that would have had.

Dr. Thomas Scalea, the physician in chief at the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center, said brain injuries are unpredictable but Lincoln would have stood a good chance of surviving.

"It's a little hard to know, but I think it's a fair statement to say this is not necessarily a fatal injury, he doesn't have to die," said Scalea, who will explain how Lincoln would have been treated at his center, the world's first dedicated trauma center.