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OKC Thunder parade: Officials report 100 heat calls, 24 hospital emergencies during event
At least 24 people needed hospital treatment for heat illness emergencies as hundreds of thousands swarmed through Midtown and downtown Oklahoma City to support the OKC Thunder's 2025 Champions Parade.
Numerous people from all over the city, the state and the country braved high temperatures and congested streets Tuesday, June 24, in downtown Oklahoma City to celebrate the NBA team's historic win. Ahead of the parade, officials advised spectators on how to stay safe while outdoors in the heat by drinking water consistently, taking shade breaks, and watching for signs of heat exhaustion.
The Emergency Medical Services Authority, or EMSA, had water stations along the route and dozens of teams to assist parade attendees as temperatures climbed into the high eighties.
But challenges presented themselves as the event progressed. While a crowd amassed at Scissortail Park before the conclusion of the parade, security was seen providing spectators with water bottles and towels. Troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol helped carry a woman out of the throng to a shaded area and placed her inside a patrol vehicle before driving off.
One older woman with a walker pushed to the front of the barricades, looking visibly flushed, before a younger woman gave her a bottle of water. Another young girl was complaining to her mother about feeling uneasy, before lurching over abruptly and vomiting.
Kimberly Querry, EMSA's public information officer, confirmed that crews responded to at least 100 suspected heat-related illness calls. They'd also taken 24 patients to local hospitals for treatment, Querry said.
"I know the calls are starting to go down in number, and I know it's a lot," Kimberly said as she was leaving downtown. "There were just so many people and our crews were so spread out, it's going to take some time to figure out."
One Yukon police official involved in the parade plans said he expected a minimum of 600,000 to show up for the event, but an official crowd estimate had not been provided by press time.
The sheer number of people flocking into downtown Oklahoma City forced local law enforcement to partner with agencies from around the state to accommodate parade attendance. EMSA officials said they had been prepping for the event for weeks.
"We had to coordinate with other agencies to try and figure out the best way to handle that volume of people in that small of an area," Querry said. "We developed strike teams and response teams, and we had golf courts so they could get more easily through the crowd if they needed to. That kind of planning just takes time."
The crowd sizes and the severe heat might have enflamed other tensions. Just before 10:30 a.m., a fight broke out just outside Scissortail Park. Within seconds of fists flying, troopers had detained one man and led him away in handcuffs.
Arguments were seen elsewhere in the crowd at Scissortail Park, but cooled down without further incident.
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Law enforcement was highly visible during the parade. Agencies involved alongside the Oklahoma City Police Department included the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office; the Edmond, Moore, Norman, Lawton and Yukon police departments; the Oklahoma Highway Patrol; the Oklahoma National Guard, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, among others.
"I think it'll mainly just be working with our agency partners on a debrief of how everything worked, what we did well and what we could do better," Querry said. "We typically do a lot of big events every year, but I don't know if we've ever seen an event like this ― not even with the (annual) Memorial Marathon ― that we have this many people."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Heat illness calls surge as thousands support OKC Thunder Champions parade
