An infant died after suffering a serious medical incident during the Toronto Raptors’ championship parade, raising criticism from first responder unions that the crowded celebrations were poorly planned.

A mother was attending the June 17 festivities on University Ave. at York St., where thousands of fans crammed together to see the basketball players as they passed by.

Around 1:30 pm, the mother realized her child was “suddenly unresponsive and called out for help,” according to a City of Toronto press release.

Two off-duty paramedics who were marching in the parade rushed to the infant, who wasn’t breathing and without a pulse, said Mike Merriman, the paramedic and EMS unit chair for CUPE Local 416.

“They had no equipment. They were there for volunteering,” Merriman told the Star.

Read more:

Opinion | Rosie DiManno: Raptors parade organizers say they had 3 days to prepare. That’s absurd

Opinion | Royson James: The Raptors celebration was a mess. Here’s 5 ways to do it right next time

In the chaos after the Raptors parade shooting, many stepped up to help strangers in distress

Unable to access an ambulance because of the crowds, Merriman said, the paramedics got into a Toronto police SUV and rushed the child to a nearby hospital.

“The reality was, by the time an ambulance could get to the infant, you just couldn’t wait,” Merriman said.

A Toronto police spokeswoman said “it was a minute or less” from when the officers inside the SUV received the medical distress call over the radio before seeing the commotion.

“They came upon the situation very quickly as it was close to the roadway and the crowd had cleared space around the mother and baby,” spokeswoman Allison Sparkes said by email.

In its statement, the city dismissed reports that the crowds slowed the paramedics and police from reaching the baby as “unfounded.”

“The infant arrived at hospital in six minutes from the police arriving at the scene,” the statement said.

The baby regained vital signs that afternoon, but died two days later.

The celebrations, which nearly descended into panic after gunfire erupted outside an at-capacity Nathan Phillips Square, were mired in “poor planning,” say officials representing Toronto first responder unions.

“It was total chaos. It definitely could have been planned a lot better,” Merriman said.

An MLSE official previously estimated the festivities could bring as many as two million people to the city’s streets.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack said his members working that day were left “exasperated,” and said it was a mistake to start planning the parade just “two days” before it took place.

“In the past, when we’ve planned for G20 or when the Blue Jays won, you plan and you anticipate. That’s the whole point,” he said.

McCormack said 175 Toronto officers who worked the parade have filed “injured on duty” reports. He added that the injuries range from dehydration to officers hit by bottles and other things thrown from the crowd.

The city said, in its statement, that officials, emergency responders and MLSE staff have met “to discuss the need for a more proactive celebration plan in the future.”

These discussions, the statement said, focused on “parade logistics, improved public safety measures and improved information-sharing for those in attendance, especially for those who attended the rally on (Nathan Phillips Square).”

An organizing committee will be used to plan future celebrations and will consult an events-and-security expert with experience staging large civic events, the city said.

Mayor John Tory, speaking to reporters on Thursday, said he had only learned of the death that day.

“Any time a child dies in any circumstances like this unexpectedly is a terrible tragedy for that family, but it’s a tragedy for the city,” Tory said. “It really just underlines and increases my own determination to see that the review that we’ve called for looks at every aspect of the parade.”

The review, he said, would include whether there were adequate resources dedicated to it.

Roughly two hours after the infant was taken to hospital, a gunman fired multiple shots outside Nathan Phillips Square, sending a panicked surge of fans scrambling for cover.

Four people suffered non-life threatening injuries. Police made three arrests and seized two guns soon after the shooting, but investigators don’t believe either handgun was the one fired.

—with files from Jennifer Pagliaro