Pioneer Miami Paramedic Dies at 89

Feb. 17--He loved being a firefighter but Richard Simpson wanted more.

So when Miami began training firefighters to become paramedics in the 1960s, Simpson became "one of the earliest paramedics in the city of Miami Fire-Rescue history," said agency spokesman Lt. David Walters. "He was a very dedicated, hard-working individual who contributed a lot to the paramedic program when it was created. He was very enthusiastic about it."

Mr. Simpson, of Southwest Ranches, died Feb. 7. He was 89.

Born in Boston, Mr. Simpson joined the Navy after graduating from high school and became a firefighter when he moved to South Florida. He retired in the mid 1970s after a 25-year career, said his son, Samuel Katzen, of Cooper City.

Even in retirement he kept the "city of Miami tee-shirts he wore. He was very proud of that," Katzen said.

Walters said doctors realized that if a core of firefighters -- often the first people on the scene of accidents -- had emergency training, "it would be to the benefit of everyone, and contribute to the survivability of the patients," he said. "So the paramedic program came about."

Until then, ambulances had "rudimentary bandages" on board.

Today paramedics provide intensive care and dispense medications.

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Ray Hoecherl, a family friend, said Mr. Simpson had a hobby which made him well-known in the hunting community: He was a butcher and would cut up hog, deer and cow in his Southwest Ranches house.

"He was very dedicated to the fire department, to his family; very hard working," Hoecherl said. "He was very quiet. When he had something to say, it was important."

Being a pioneer paramedic mattered: "He felt he was helping people doing that job," Hoecherl said.

In addition to his son Samuel Katzen, he is survived by his wife Diana Simpson, and five children and step-children: Richard Simpson, II, of Cooper City; Dana Pollack, of Sanford; Dianne Brocato, of Southwest Ranches; Gabriela Doubleday of Miami; and Marcio Brocato, of Miami; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The funeral was Thursday at a veteran's cemetery in Lake Worth.

lhuriash@tribpub.com or 954-572-2008

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