James Romagnoli

James Romagnoli was vice president of Protective Services for North Shore-LIJ Health System. He began his emergency services career as a New York City police officer in 1980. He was promoted in 1993 to the Department's Emergency Services Unit (ESU), where he became ESUs Urban Search and Rescue liaison to the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Romagnoli was a graduate of the Emergency Management Institute at the National Emergency Training Center. He had worked as a paramedic and a volunteer firefighter. In the wake of 9/11, North Shore-LIJ CEO Michael Dowling hired Romagnoli to form a central emergency management unit for the hospital system.

Romagnoli recalls 9/11: