Nicholas V. Cagliuso, Sr., PhD, an adjunct faculty member in the College of Continuing and Professional Studies' graduate emergency management program, was well on his way toward what has become a distinguished career as a national emergency management leader and scholar on 9/11. But he says his experience as a survivor who led his coworkers to safety from the 86th floor of One World Trade Center was a 鈥渃rystallizing moment that propelled me to take my career to the next level."
When the jet hit the tower on that fateful day, Dr. Cagliuso was working as a management trainee with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. By quickly assessing the harrowing situation, he was able to shepherd the group to street level鈥攁nd save their lives鈥攋ust 13 minutes before the tower collapsed.
Today, he shares his expertise and love for humanity鈥攁nd for teaching鈥攚ith 成人影片, where he is helping to prepare the next generation of skilled, compassionate emergency management professionals for leadership roles in times of crisis.
For Dr. Cagliuso, the urge to help others runs in the family. Inspired by relatives who were firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) on Long Island, he became an EMT as a Brooklyn high school student. His passion for helping eventually led to leadership roles with the New York City Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; New York鈥揚resbyterian Healthcare System; Continuum Health Partners; and NYC Health + Hospitals.
In addition to being an 成人影片 adjunct faculty member in the College of Professional and Continuing Studies, he is currently deputy director of the Bethesda, Maryland-based National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health’s Military鈥揅ivilian National Disaster Medical System Interoperability Study at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences/Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
According to Dr. Cagliuso, over the next few years, the United States Department of Defense-funded project will work to ensure that military and civilian emergency systems are prepared to handle broad-ranging, large-scale medical and other emergency events. 鈥淚t’s very much applied and operational research, with us speaking with a cross-section of seasoned military and civilian experts,” he explained.
鈥淲e’ll be applying their insights and recommendations on how to bolster our emergency preparedness for everything from pandemics and active shooter incidents to large-scale overseas combat casualties and catastrophic weather events. We’re even referring to the textbook I used in my 成人影片 class this fall.”
Combatting COVID-19
Before assuming this role in September 2020, as founding senior assistant vice president for emergency management at NYC Health + Hospitals鈥攖he nation’s largest municipal healthcare delivery system鈥攈e revolutionized its approach to emergency management by developing and implementing its first Incident Command System (ICS ) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
鈥淭he week between Christmas and New Year’s in 2019, we heard there was a PUE鈥攑neumonia of unknown etiology鈥攃ooking in China and determined to keep an eye on it through the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and WHO (World Health Organization),” he recalled. 鈥淥nce we learned of one active domestic case of COVID-19, we activated the ICS and EOC on January 20, 2020.”
Despite his proactive leadership, Dr. Cagliuso, like many in his field, was disheartened by early widespread indifference to expert pandemic advice. 鈥淚t remains sickening,” he said. 鈥淒ecades of public health experience and objective science were actively defied by those in leadership positions. We’re still seeing the ramifications of this.”
Dr. Cagliuso’s career innovations reflect his fundamental belief in the primacy of human relationships. 鈥淚t’s an instinctual thing to survive and help others,” he insisted. 鈥淎ll the degrees, skills and titles only mean so much as long as you are human鈥攁nd connect and interact with others. When confronting new projects, I think there must be a better way to reasonably do good for more people.”
A Humanistic Approach to Teaching
His humanistic approach infuses his many years of teaching. A previous stint as a member of 成人影片’s Center for Health Innovation Advisory Board indirectly led to his joining 成人影片’s fully online graduate program in emergency management as an adjunct faculty member in Fall 2020.
After teaching the fall semester course “Research in Emergency and Disaster Management,” he has enjoyed supervising three students’ independent study projects on the public health management of disasters, the public administration aspects of emergency management, and organizational staffing options for emergency management this spring.
He delights in sharing his passion for his field with his 成人影片 students. 鈥淚 try to make my courses experience-driven. For me, to teach is to learn twice,” he said. 鈥淚 have been learning and relearning, which makes this such a positive experience.”
Dr. Cagliuso also strives to give his students a real sense of what is going on in the field and the world, so that as they apply for roles鈥攚hether to advance or start careers鈥攖hey understand what employers are looking for.
鈥淔ormal graduate education has proven to be a real differentiator in the field of emergency management,” he said. 鈥淭he credential is key. 成人影片 is unique with its focus on experience-based knowledge and research, which should give our graduate students a competitive edge.”