Bristol will begin his second
year as a graduate student in the fall 2015 semester. Previously working as an
athletic trainer after graduating from Sacred Heart University, Bristol decided
to go into emergency management following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. After his hometown
of East Rockaway, NY was hit hard by the storm, Bristol, then the Captain of
the East Rockaway Fire Department Rescue Squad, was responsible for aiding in
both the pre-storm evacuation as well as the rebuilding of the town after the
storm. This experience gave him an interest in emergency management, and after
a brief time as a 911 Telecommunicator in North Carolina, he returned to New
York where he was accepted to Adelphi’s Emergency Management Program.
The John D. Solomon
Fellowship for Public Service is the first student fellowship program devoted entirely
to emergency management. It was created by the family and friends of journalist
and public servant John D. Solomon, and partners with numerous organizations including
the New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, and the DOE. Bristol will work with the DOE emergency
management office as they prepare for, and respond to, any emergency that may
arise.
When asked about what he was
expecting to get from the program, Bristol explained how he saw this as a great
learning experience. “I really expect to see what a true emergency manager does
on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “The DOE is a new setting for me, so I will be
seeing how the emergency management setting is not just first response (fire,
EMS, Military, etc.) as well as learning the nuts and bolts of what it means to
be an emergency manager and how it relates to such a large school system.” Bristol
also expressed a great deal of gratitude to Adelphi for helping him achieve his
goals; citing an enjoyable program with supportive directors and professors. Altogether,
he is very happy with the direction his life has taken. “Right now I’m where I
want to be, and I know where I want to go in my career,” he says. “I know
emergency management is what I want to do and it is what I have a deep passion
for.”
