RYAN DAWSON

Ryan is a multi-faceted first responder certified as law enforcement officer, fire fighter, EMT and emergency manager.  Ryan started in the emergency services field at the age of 14 as a junior firefighter and found a passion for serving others through public safety. 

While attending Appalachian State University, he worked as an EMT and continuing in the volunteer fire service.  After graduation, Ryan completed an internship with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations and then attended Basic Law Enforcement Training. Ryan returned to his family home and worked as a third generation law enforcement officer at their local sheriff's office for 20 years as a full time law enforcement officer in assignments as courtroom bailiff, Patrol Deputy, Field Training Officer, Special Response Team Operator, Criminal Investigations Detective, Sergeant of Crime Reduction Team and Major.  His last assignment in law enforcement was the appointment as the Chief Deputy Sheriff managing 130 employees, 10 million dollar budget and oversaw the administration, patrol, investigations, support services and detention divisions in a large agency in North Carolina. Ryan is a certified NC Criminal Justice Instructor and has completed the Law Enforcement Executive Program at NC State University. Ryan has supervised many large incidents including hurricane response, floods, manhunts, jail evacuations, civil unrest, missing person incidents, presidential and vice presidential visits, murder investigations and other law enforcement incidents. 

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Ryan has continued to serve as a firefighter in a volunteer and part-time capacity where he is a North Carolina Certified Firefighter, Driver/Operator Engines & Aerials, Technical Rescuer with specialties in vehicle extrication, water rescue and machinery and agriculture. He is a certified NC Fire Investigator Technician, Fire Officer and Fire Instructor. In the fire service, Ryan has supervised normal response calls to large responses of explosions, floods, multi-agency fire response, floods, hurricanes and other events. 

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In 2023, he changed careers and became a full time emergency management coordinator in NC where he is still employed. As part of his normal assignments, he is responsible for emergency planning, response and mitigation.  His agency conducts fire investigations, responds to hazardous materials incidents, technical rescue and water rescue calls. He continues to serve as a sworn law enforcement and as a part-time firefighter.  Ryan is also the Chief of the local Search and Rescue Team where he supervises a team of approximately 60 members that is state deployable for wilderness search incidents. 

In his career, Ryan has deployed on more than 30 large scale incidents as part of a incident management team or member of the Emergency Operations Center Team. He is nationally credentialed as a Type III Incident Commander, Public Information Officer, Safety Officer, Liaison Officer, Operations Section Chief and Division/Group Supervisor.  Ryan has been part of many state deployment incident management teams for incidents for hurricanes, floods and missing person incidents. Ryan is also a nationally certified instructor through FEMA for All Hazard Curriculum.