After failed execution of Pike in Tennessee, ambulance dispatched half an hour later — RMF24

At the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution prison in Nashville, Tennessee, following the failed execution of death row inmate Kristi Pike, an ambulance crew was dispatched about half an hour after the first call to 911. This was reported by RMF24, citing released recordings and call transcripts.

Call after administration of the drug

On the evening of September 30, Pike was administered 10 grams of pentobarbital, a drug used to carry out death sentences. At 8:40 p.m. local time, a prison employee told the Metro Nashville dispatch center that the inmate had not died and needed an ambulance. According to him, the procedure had already been underway for about an hour at that point.

The dispatcher tried to obtain a code to confirm the authenticity of the call, but the caller could not provide one. At around 9:00 p.m., a center employee contacted the central office of the Tennessee Department of Correction to verify the report. Officials there said that no one had called from their institution.

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Problems with admitting medics

At 9:08 p.m., Pike's attorney, Kelly Gleason, called the dispatch center. She said that her client was alive, breathing and needed urgent assistance. According to the attorney, Pike was unconscious and breathing heavily.

Another obstacle was the procedure for accessing the prison grounds: medics could not enter without the presence of a state police officer. At 9:11 p.m., an emergency service employee contacted the Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatch center with a request to send a patrol to the facility.

Pike was eventually taken to a hospital and placed on a ventilator. Her lawyers said she regained consciousness nearly a week later, after which she was returned to prison. Following the incident, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee temporarily suspended all scheduled executions in the state, while Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigned. An independent audit of the procedures will be conducted by former federal prosecutor Ed Stanton.