Emergency help was delayed by confusion after failed execution of Christa Pike, 911 calls reveal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Emergency help for Christa Pike was delayed by confusion among first responders and Tennessee prison officials following her failed lethal injection last month, according to 911 dispatch recordings reviewed by The Associated Press.

The recordings show that precious minutes elapsed as officials and responders tried to figure out whether a request for emergency help in the execution chamber was legitimate. The first call came in at 8:40 p.m. on Sept. 30, and it was about a half an hour before prison officials affirmed it was legitimate and began letting responders through the prison gates.

“Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call,” one unidentified person says at 9:03 p.m. “There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison.”

Four minutes later, a responder reported: “Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people.”