NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Emergency crews waited outside Riverbend Prison for access to Christa Pike after a failed execution attempt, while dispatchers struggled to verify a 911 call from a Tennessee Department of Correction official, according to call transcripts and radio traffic. The first call for an ambulance came from the prison at 8:40 p.m. But the caller did not provide a security code required by Metro’s Emergency Communications Center for calls from Riverbend, and appeared unfamiliar with the protocol, the transcript shows. The Department of Correction has said the identities of people involved in executions are confidential; the caller’s name and the original call audio were not released. Dispatchers contacted Metro police, Nashville Fire and the Tennessee Highway Patrol for guidance as they tried to establish whether the call was genuine. One prison employee told dispatch that the prison had not called, prompting a radio announcement that the request was a false call and that emergency crews were not needed. A second call from the prison came at 9:06 p.m. The caller said they would provide the code when dispatch was ready. Around the same time, Pike’s attorney, Kelly Gleason, called 911 and said Pike was alive, breathing and needed immediate lifesaving care. A firetruck and ambulance had been sent toward the prison after the initial request, but waited outside the gate while staff sought the code and an escort into the facility. Dispatchers first contacted the Highway Patrol about an escort, but were turned away. Radio traffic also indicates that crews were at one point still being told the call was false even as someone from the prison urged them to enter. Media witnesses reported seeing Pike gasp for air more than 30 minutes before the initial 911 call. The records do not explain why the prison waited to call or why the first caller did not know the required code. Pike was eventually loaded into an ambulance nearly an hour after the first call. The ambulance left the prison at 9:28 p.m. Radio traffic shows the destination hospital changed en route, and Pike was taken to Vanderbilt. The Department of Correction was asked why its official lacked the code and appeared unaware of the protocol. A spokesperson said the department could not comment at that time.