User:JudyWilson2010

== RODNEY A. NIELSEN''' ==' Draft ''

Circa 1962, an amazing man named Rodney A. Nielsen first brought the concept of the Paramedics to Redondo Beach, California. The idea first came to Rodney as a young boy. Rod and his father used to take frequent walks to their neighborhood fire department in Racine, Wisconsin where they became friends with the firemen and Rod was allowed to slide down the fire pole. At the young age of 8 years old, Rodney was staying at an aunts home on April 13, 1937 while his mother was giving birth to his younger brother. While he was there, the house across the street caught on fire and young Rodney watched this terrible scene from the front room window. After the fire was out, 2 men in a pickup truck arrived at the burned house and removed a body. This was upsetting to little Rodney, and in his young mind, he wanted to know why the firemen didn't come before the fire was out to save this person before he died. Many years later, Rodney and his family moved to Southern California and then as an adult, he married and moved to Redondo Beach where he and his wife became active in community affairs. He first approached Chef Sneering of the Redondo Beach Fire Department about his idea of firemen rescuing people and saving lives because he knew that they sat around a lot and would have time to take on such a task. He was told that the idea would not work because "Firemen Fight Fires" Several years later, Rod was appointed City Councilman in Redondo Beach, when Dale O. Page, had to resign.a f to vacant seat of the Redondo Beach City Counsel He approached Chief Sneery and wanted to have the fire department go out and rescue people, told them his ideas and got a dead end answer. The chief responded with "Firemen fight fires, they do not rescue people." Chief Harrison and Chief Black also gave this little boy with a bright idea the same answer. Years later, Rodney Nielsen was a councilmen in the Redondo Beach, CA city council. He spoke to the people, trying again to try to convince to Fire Departments to involve the paramedics in their field. Only this time, he had succeeded. After many more years of putting in place a program, it was official in August of 1971 that the Paramedics would be coming to Southern California's Fire Departments