Office of Emergency Management

By The Dunellen Office of Emergency Management

When the time came for Homer Mosley, Dunellen Office of Emergency Management Coordinator, to consider which of his team members would be recommended for one of the Annual Service Awards bestowed upon outstanding members of the New Jersey Emergency Management Association, selecting his Deputy, William (Bill) Carlson was easy.  

What was it about Bill that made him the natural choice? Mr. Mosley’s confidence in his decision to endorse his Deputy rested on several outstanding qualifications. Here are a few that explain why Bill is the deserving recipient of the New Jersey Emergency Management 

Association’s Annual Service Award.

Character & Winning Attitude 

As he described in a letter of endorsement submitted by Mr. Mosely to The New Jersey Association of Emergency Management Review Board, “When Bill was offered the position as Deputy OEM Coordinator for the Borough of Dunellen, he was surprised but in his humble but confident manner, accepted the position.” Coordinator Mosely’s commentary went on to point out that not only did he accept the position of OEM Deputy, but having observed an organizational gap, Bill then took on the role of interim Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordinator. 

Leadership & Team Management

To ensure Team unity, FEMA compliance and activation readiness, CERT members are trained to act as the first line of defense in a disaster. They’re “the help until help arrives.” To advance the CERT mission, Bill conducts monthly meetings and training sessions. His CERT members have been utilized and mobilized at various planned municipal events. CERT was most recently deployed at the Dunellen Police Department’s National Night Out, and Dunellen’s Annual Harvest Fest, Fright Night, and Christmas Tree lighting ceremony.

Investment in the Expansion of Core competencies

Since becoming Deputy OEM Coordinator, Bill has seized upon  opportunities to expand his knowledge and skills by taking advantage of numerous FEMA independent study courses and course offerings from the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management: Including taking on the grueling Emergency Management 1 Curriculum in pursuit of the highly regarded NJ Emergency Manager certification - all while maintaining his engineering consulting business, being a caretaker for his ailing mother-in-law and working to maintain his family ties and lifestyle.

Other Important Contributions

At one point when the original Dunellen Emergency Operation Plans (EOPs) MS Word documents were unable to be recovered, Bill converted and reformatted them into PDFs so that they would be more readily accepted for approval by the New Jersey State Police. EOPs are significant because  they detail each responding agency’s (Fire, Police, EMS, etc.) area of responsibility during an event, emergency, or activation.

Bill also serves as President of The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club. He was able to persuade and motivate several of Dunellen CERT members to prepare for, be tested, and obtain their Amateur Radio Operator Licenses. This additional CERT resource will serve as an important back-up for emergency communications should the need arise.

Among other routine duties and efforts to continuously improve Dunellen NJ CERT operations, Bill supports the reorganization and reconfiguration of Dunellen's Emergency Operations Center for activation readiness.

So, should you run into Bill around town, don’t be shy, say hello and congratulate him on being recognized for his efforts to ensure the safety and resiliency of our community when we’re faced with disaster, because he’s also a pretty friendly and all-around good guy. You can tell by the smile. Congratulations Bill.