World · North America · 50 mins ago
Confusion delayed emergency response after Christa Pike survived execution attempt
Christa Pike survived an attempted lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee on September 30.
She was hospitalized after receiving two doses of pentobarbital and later returned to prison.
Recordings of 911 calls show that responders were initially told the call for medical help was false.
Prison officials confirmed it was genuine at 9:11 p.m., about 30 minutes after the first call, and responders were then allowed in.
Pike was being executed for the 1995 stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer.
The delay raises questions about how emergency calls from the prison are verified, but Tennessee's corrections department has not explained what went wrong with the execution.
The department has not said what happens next.
Emergency medical help for Christa Pike was delayed after she survived a failed execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee.
911 recordings show that officials took about 31 minutes to confirm that the call for help was legitimate.
The first call came at 8:40pm on September 30, but a dispatcher said at 9:03pm that the call was believed to be false.
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Her lawyers said she later regained consciousness, spoke and walked with assistance, and was discharged to the women’s prison.
- Who
- Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death-row inmate, and the prison officials and emergency responders handling the call for help.
- What
- Emergency medical help was delayed after Pike survived a failed lethal injection.
- When
- The first 911 call was made at 8:40pm on September 30; officials confirmed the call at 9:11pm.
- Where
- Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee, United States.
- Why
- Officials and responders were confused about whether the call was legitimate, and the caller lacked the code used to verify entry.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The first 911 call reported that Pike was still alive after the execution attempt and requested an ambulance.
A Tennessee Department of Corrections employee told a dispatcher that nobody from the facility had called.
An unidentified person said the call was false and that no medical help was needed at Riverbend.
A responder reported that someone at the prison gate was insisting the call was real.
Prison officials confirmed the call was legitimate and responders were allowed to enter.
- Inmate
- Christa Pike, 50
- Prison
- Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Tennessee
- First 911 call
- September 30 at 8:40pm
- Call confirmed
- September 30 at 9:11pm
- Drug administered
- Two doses of pentobarbital
What people are saying
Per supervisors here at the DEC (Department of Emergency Communications) we have been informed it is a false call
The person is not yet deceased
I'm being told that nobody from our facility called you
Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it's real and demanding us to go in
Sources
Related news
Man dies after being ejected from roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia
Seven-year-old climbs El Capitan with his father, prompting child welfare reports
Calgary duo raises $1.1 million for food bank in three years
Edmonton streetcar fans reflect on a century of connection
Confusion delayed emergency response for Christa Pike
Idaho professor describes fear after false online murder accusations
Isaias leaves four dead as Florida and Alabama clean up
Christa Pike returns to prison after surviving failed Tennessee execution
US sanctions International Criminal Court after former judge wins Nobel Peace Prize
Trump says Russia will supply diesel as fuel prices surge
Eight killed by gunman in Erie, Pennsylvania; shooter dies by suicide
