Nashville Dispatch Releases Calls From Delayed Pike Execution Response

The Nashville Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) has released recordings and a transcript showing dispatchers delayed sending an ambulance to the execution chamber at Riverbend Prison because a prison caller could not produce a required verification code, according to BBC News, which cites recordings first obtained by the Associated Press.

What Do the Newly Released Calls Show?

The DEC released one call only as a written transcript. In it, a prison caller tells a dispatcher: "We've been carrying out an execution tonight. We've administered 10 grams of pentobarbital. The person is not yet deceased. That started approximately 1 hour ago. And we're calling for an ambulance," according to the transcript cited by BBC News. The dispatcher's standard protocol requires callers requesting emergency response to supply a verification code; the caller in this instance did not have one, the transcript shows.

Why Did Verification Delay the Ambulance Call?

Additional recordings the DEC released document the agency's internal coordination with police and highway patrol as it worked to confirm the call was genuine rather than a hoax. "We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening and we need to send an ambulance and, or if you need police assistance or if this is someone that is just basically prank calling or, like, swatting us," one dispatcher says on a separate recording, per BBC News. The exchange indicates the verification-code requirement — a safeguard against false reports such as swatting — operated without a parallel protocol for authenticating calls originating from a state prison mid-execution, leaving dispatchers to cross-check with other emergency departments before dispatching help.

"She is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care."

What Happened During Pike's Execution?

Christa Pike, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, carried out with her then-boyfriend, BBC News reports. She survived two injections of pentobarbital during the Sept. 30 execution and was transported to a hospital in critical condition, according to the outlet.

What Has Pike's Legal Team Said?

The pull quote above is attributed by BBC News to Kelly Gleason, Pike's defense attorney, speaking on one of the released recordings as she pressed for an ambulance to reach the chamber.

What Comes Next for Pike's Case?

BBC News has reported separately on the legal question of whether Pike could face execution again and by what method, though the network's video segment reviewed here does not detail a scheduled date or specify which agency — the Tennessee Department of Correction or a court — will determine next steps. The DEC's release of the calls to the Associated Press and other outlets establishes the public record of the response timeline; no further statement from Riverbend Prison or state corrections officials is included in the material reviewed.

The recordings leave unresolved how the DEC's verification protocol will apply to future executions, a question likely to surface as Tennessee corrections officials and the Nashville dispatch agency review the incident.

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