David Nitsch, MPH, NRP has an extensive and diverse background in the emergency services, emergency management, and global health. Mr. Nitsch is the Director of the Bureau Technological Hazards for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and also serves as Adjunct Faculty member in the Disaster and Emergency Management program at Thomas Jefferson University. Before joining PEMA, he worked in the private sector for a consulting firm that provided various emergency management and public health preparedness services. Additionally, David has served as a Medical and Rescue Specialist with the Pennsylvania Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, the Medical Team Leader with the Lancaster County Special Emergency Response Team, and as a Personal Security Specialist and Medic in support of the U.S. State Department’s diplomatic security mission in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Nitsch has a particular interest in displaced populations and the unique health and social challenges brought on by displacement. He travels internationally to support this underserved population serving in remote areas of Guatemala, the migrant camps along the U.S., Mexico border, in western Poland to support Ukrainian refugees, and most recently in Ukraine.

Mr. Nitsch has earned a Masters of Public Health and is currently completing a doctoral degree in Public Policy with a focus on foreign policy. He is a Nationally Registered Paramedic and a member of the Pennsylvania Public Health Association. In addition, he is a member of the International Organization for Migration, Displacement and Health Working Group, and the World Health Organization, Ukraine Health Cluster, Assessment and Analysis Technical Working Group.