911 Dispatcher Thought Call About Botched Execution Was a Prank

A 911 dispatcher initially dismissed a call requesting medical assistance for Christa Pike, a death row inmate who survived a botched execution, as a potential prank. The dispatcher struggled to verify the emergency, with one responder stating, "We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening... or if this is someone that is basically prank calling or like swatting us."

The initial call came in around 8:40 p.m. on September 30, after Pike had received two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital. The caller reported that Pike, 50, had been administered the drug but had not yet died, and requested an ambulance.

For nearly an hour, emergency responders were unable to confirm the legitimacy of the call. The dispatcher was informed around 9:03 p.m. that the call was false and no medical assistance was needed at Riverbend Prison. However, minutes later, a responder reported that someone at the prison gate insisted the emergency was real, claiming to be a state official.

Prison officials did not confirm the call for help until 9:11 p.m. Pike, convicted of a 1995 murder, became the first death row inmate on record to survive lethal injection. She was strapped to a gurney for approximately an hour while medical staff attempted the execution. Witnesses reported hearing loud snores from behind a curtain, and Pike was later taken to the hospital unconscious. She awoke six days later and was discharged from the hospital back to prison on Saturday, where she continues to receive medical care.