New details reveal more problems in the failed execution of Christa Pike. Now we're learning about a major delay in getting an ambulance to the prison.
NewsChannel5 Investigates discovered there was a lot of confusion about whether to even send first responders to Riverbend after the state failed to put Pike to death.
It all began with a 911 call for an ambulance from the prison.
We do not have the actual first 911 call from the prison because the Department of Correction argues that hearing the caller's voice would reveal his identity and state law makes the names of everyone involved in the execution process confidential.
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But through a public records request, we were able to get a transcript of that call and other crucial audio that reveals how efforts to get Christa Pike emergency help got off to a really rough start.
It began at 8:40 that night with a 911 call from Riverbend Prison.
The state had tried and failed to execute death row inmate Christa Pike.
But there was a problem.
Metro's Emergency Communications Center requires callers from the state prison in northwest Nashville to follow a certain security protocol to prevent prank or fake calls or prison escapes.
In the 911 call, after the dispatcher asked the location of the emergency and the caller said Riverbend, the dispatcher asked, "What's your code?"
The caller appeared confused and said, "I'm sorry?"
Again, the dispatcher asked, "What's your code?"
The caller, whom NewsChannel5 Investigates says is an official with the Tennessee Department of Correction, not only didn't have the required code, but didn't even seem to know about it.
He asked, "My code? For reporting an emergency or do you (want to) know what the emergency is?"
Again, the dispatcher asked, "What's, what's the code? For the location?"
The caller, "I, I don't have a code."
The dispatcher responded, "Ok. You don't have a verification code?"
The caller replied. "I don't."
Again, this call came in at 8:40. Keep in mind, this was more than half an hour after media witnesses said they watched Pike gasp for air and it was clear they said there'd been a problem with the execution.
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What's not clear is why the Department of Correction waited more than 30 minutes to make that 911 call or why the TDOC official had no idea about the required code.
What then followed was a series of calls where 911 employees tried to figure out what to do next.
We hear them call a Metro Police supervisor, then Nashville Fire and the THP, seeking guidance.
No one was sure if this was a real call and no one could believe the 911 caller didn't know about the required code.
In one call between one of the dispatchers and a Nashville Fire employee, the dispatcher explained, "They said they don't have a code and it's for the woman that's supposed to be executed. But they said they don't have a code."
The Fire employee's reaction? "How do they not have a code? Is it at Riverbend?"
The dispatcher confirmed, "Yes, at Riverbend."
The NFD employee replied, "That's the one place you definitely need a code."
Dispatchers even repeatedly called the prison, trying to verify the call.
One prison employee replied, "We didn't call anybody. I would have been the one to call you guys."
And that prompted an announcement from dispatch over the radio, alerting crews that it was, in fact, "a false call" and emergency crews were not needed.
But moments later, at 9:06, nearly half an hour after the original request for an ambulance, there was another call from the prison asking dispatchers to send help. Only this time, the caller said, "Let me know when you're ready for the code."
And it was about this same time, another call came into 911. This one from one of Christa Pike's lawyers.
Attorney Kelly Gleason can be heard saying, "She is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care."
A firetruck and ambulance had actually been dispatched to the prison shortly after the initial call, but waited just outside the gate until someone could produce the security code. But even then, they still waited, as dispatchers tried to find someone to escort the fire crew into the prison, first calling the THP and being turned away.
Finally, reporters covering the execution spotted the emergency crews pulling onto the prison grounds. And then the fire truck and ambulance stopped just outside the gate, waiting another a minute and a half, apparently for their security escort to show up.
Pike was finally loaded onto an ambulance nearly an hour after the initial 911 call and at 9:28, the ambulance can be seen, with flashing lights, pulling out of the prison property.
There was even more confusion in the emergency radio traffic. The fire crew waiting outside the prison was being told at one point, by dispatch, that it was a false call. Then, they reported that someone had come running up to them from the prison, insisting it was real and demanding they go in. This person apparently identified themselves as a state official. But again, that person did not have the code.
There was also confusion about where to take Pike. According to the radio traffic, they were on their way to one hospital when the staff there diverted them elsewhere and they ended up at Vanderbilt.
We did reach out to the Tennessee Department of Correction to ask why the caller, a TDOC official, didn't have the code or even seem to know about it. We figured this person would at least be aware of the security protocol at the prison or at least when informed that they needed a code would be able to get it rather quickly since they were there at the prison.
The TDOC spokesperson told NewsChannel5 Investigates she was unable to comment right now.
This story was originally published by Jennifer Kraus with the Scripps News Group station in Nashville.
