Dispatch recordings reveal communication failures delayed ambulance after Christa Pike's execution attempt

Newly released recordings from Nashville’s Department of Emergency Communications show that a series of verification problems and contradictory statements delayed an ambulance response after a failed execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

According to the transcripts, prison staff reported administering a second dose of pentobarbital to inmate Christa Pike but said the person was not yet deceased. The staff called for an ambulance, but dispatchers questioned whether the request was genuine, with one dispatcher saying,

"We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening, and we need to send an ambulance … or if this is someone that is just, basically, prank calling."

Further calls from Pike’s attorney also lacked the verification code required to confirm the request as authentic. Prison workers repeatedly told dispatch that they had not called for assistance, stating,

"We didn’t call anybody. I would have been the one to call you guys. We didn’t call anyone."

Tennessee’s lethal-injection protocol mandates a five-minute waiting period after the drugs are administered, after which a curtain closes over the witness area and a physician certifies death. The curtain was closed at 8:16 p.m., and witnesses reported hearing the inmate’s breathing until 8:53 p.m. It remains unclear whether medical staff provided care during that interval.

An emergency-services worker finally reported at 9:53 p.m. that an ambulance carrying Pike was en route, indicating a delay of more than an hour from the initial call for help.