Donell Harvin is the Deputy Director for the NYC Medical Examiner’s Special Operations Division, an interdisciplinary team tasked with responding to incidents involving numerous fatalities and/or in complex fatality management scenarios in the tri-state region. He functions as the agency lead on disaster and Emergency Management-related planning and response. He has a broad EMS and hazardous materials (HazMat) response background, having served as a NYC paramedic for over 16 years, and as well as on several HazMat response teams for several NYC agencies. 

Mr. Harvin holds several masters degrees; an MPH in Environmental Science (industrial Hygeine), and MPA in Emergency Management, and a masters (MA) certificate in Terrorism Studies. He has wrote masters dissertations on air quality and on suicide bombers.  He is still active in EMS and is a voting member of the NYC Regional EMS Council (REMSCO), and has written taught extensively on EMS, emergency management and suicide terrorism. He is currently writing chapters for several upcoming EMS texts related to crime scene operations, and response to terrorism. Mr. Harvin teaches EMS, Police and Fire/Rescue personnel as an adjunct professor at John Jay College and Metropolitan College, and has served as a researcher for the Center on Terrorism Studies at John Jay.

Mr. Harvin has responded to numerous emergencies and disasters as an EMS professional including the 1993 WTC bombing, 9/11, the November 12, 2001 Flight 587, the 2007 steam pipe explosion, and the 2009 Mid-air collision over the Hudson.

He is currently obtaining his doctoral degree in public health with a concentration in environmental and disaster epidemiology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.