New Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Appointed

The township committee appointed Lanoka Harbor EMS Chief Bob Resetar to Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator on Thursday.

“Bob fit the bill in all aspects,” Mayor Mark Dykoff said. “Bob has experience in many aspects of emergency management…Whenever an emergency arises, he’s always there in one form or another.”

Police Chief William Nally recommended Resetar, a 13-year member of Lanoka Harbor EMS, for the position. Resetar had been communicating with Nally over several months since the position has been vacated since August, Resetar said.

“I felt that there was a need for fresh blood to bring some new ideas to the table,” he said. “The opportunity presented itself.”

As Deputy Emergency management Coordinator, Resetar’s role will be to ensure that the town is prepared for potential emergencies—forest fires, hurricanes, anything related to Oyster Creek Generating Station, he said.

Resetar’s goal is to make emergency management more of an office. “I want to make it recognized as emergency management and not necessarily a function of the police department. It’s really a separate office.”

He would also like to get the general public more involved in emergency management, he said.

“That’s a big thing on the federal level,” said Resetar, who works for Homeland Security. The federal emergency management coordinator encourages getting civilians involved to assist the emergency services.

“Part of that is through outreach,” he said. “That’s one of my personal goals—to create that outreach.”

Resetar would reach out to community organizations and citizens to educate them on emergency management and make sure that they are prepared in case of an emergency, he said.

“We’re looking at trying to bring the office of emergency management back,” he said. “We want to make people realize they need to help themselves and we’ll help them help themselves. They just need to help us get there.”

Resetar will also be valuable for applying to grants for other emergency services and the emergency management office.  He has been successful in the past in receiving grants, including a $35K grant for turnout gear in 2006 and the recent grant for an all-terrain vehicle. He also helped the Bamber Lakes Fire Department get a grant for a new fire truck.

Resetar has worked at every level of government throughout his career, he said. In the late ‘80s he worked for the county’s emergency management department, he has done state emergency management and homeland security at the federal level.

He retired from the State University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where he was responsible for the emergency management of Camden, Newark and the Newark airport.  He left to be the director of paramedics at Community Medical Center in Toms River. For the last six years, he has been doing Homeland Security.

“I have been involved with EMS at various places throughout the state for 37 years,” he said. “I wanted to bring this background to my hometown.”