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Emergency dispatchers initially questioned whether a report that death row inmate Christa Pike had survived her execution was a prank, delaying medical assistance, according to “Fox News”.
The first 911 call came at about 8:40 p.m. on Sept. 30, roughly an hour after Pike’s lethal injection began at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. The report was based on recordings of the calls.
The caller said Pike was alive and having difficulty breathing but could not provide a code to verify the emergency. A dispatcher questioned whether the report was genuine.
At 9:03 p.m., another dispatcher said supervisors had determined the call was false and that no medical assistance was needed.
Attorney calls for emergency help
Pike’s attorney, Kelly Gleason, called 911 at about 9:08 p.m. and said her client had survived the procedure and urgently needed medical care.
The recordings also revealed confusion among prison staff, who initially denied placing an emergency call. A first responder separately reported that someone identifying themselves as a state official was outside the prison gate, insisting the emergency was genuine.
Emergency personnel were eventually allowed into the prison, and Pike was taken to a hospital.
Pike regained consciousness after six days
According to her attorneys, Pike survived two doses of the execution drug pentobarbital and remained unconscious for six days before regaining consciousness on Oct. 6. She returned to prison on Oct. 10 for continued medical care.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has suspended further executions pending a review of the failed procedure.
